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CLAVIS BIBLICA: 

OR, A 

Compendium of Scriptural Knowledge : 

CONTAINING 

A GENERAL VIEW OF THE CONTENTS 

OF 

THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS; 

The Principles of Christianity derired from them, and the 

Reasons on which they are founded : with Directions 

how to read most profitably 

THE HOLY BIBLE. 

ORIGINALLY DRAWN UP FOR THE INSTRUCTION 
OF 

TWO HIGH PRIESTS OF BUDHOO, 
From the Island of Ceylon. 



BY ADAM CLARKE, L... D. F. A. S. 



Thus saith the Lord ; Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the 
old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find 
rest for your souls. Jer. v*. 16. 



NEW-YORK : 

Published fcy N. Bangs and T. Mason, for tk* 
Methedist Episcopal Church. 

/ 




Us 



4 



iW VERTISEMEKT. 



JL HE following Tract was originally drawn 
up, as the title expresses, for the instruction 
of two high-priests of Budhoo ; of whom a 
few words may be necessary. In the year 
1818, when The Hon. Sir Alexander John- 
ston, chief judge ofCeylon, was obliged to re- 
turn to England, on account of his lady's ill 
health, the two priests in question, Sree Goo- 
na Munhi RaPhana, and his cousin Dherma 
Rama, high-priests of the temple of Dood- 
andhuve, near Galle, in the island ofCeylon, 
applied to him, with earnest entreaties, to 
permit them to accompany him to England, 
that they might study Christianity in the 
place where it was properly understood, 
and where the people lived according to its 
precepts. This strange proposition, com- 
ing from two high-priests of considerable 
learning, who by such a step must cut 
themselves off from all the emoluments of 
their temple for ever, and from all their 
1 



vi Advertisement. 

acquaintance and kindred, did not a little 
surprise him. He saw plainly that they 
must be sincere; and their readiness to 
abandon all secular good, without the small- 
est prospect of gaining any thing in return 
but spiritual advantages, was the proof.— 
They had for a considerable time suspected 
the sufficiency and even truth, of their own 
religious system ; and having met with the 
New Testament, printed in Cingalese, by 
the Wesleyan Missionaries^ at Colombo, 
they carefully read it ; and were greatly 
struck with the benevolent character and 
wisdom of Christ, and the dignified simpli- 
city and purity of His religion. But as they 
only saw Divine things through a glass dark- 
ly, they did not like to avow their doubts 
and suspicions on the system of Budhooism, 
till they had examined the subject more 
minutely, and consulted the teachers of 
Christianity on the various doctrines it pro- 
poses. 

After much hesitation, Sir Alexander 
consented to take them under his care. — 
And on their arrival in England, they were 
kindly received by the Wesleyan Mission- 



Advertisement. vii 

ary Society, who, in conjunction with Sir 
Alexander, desired me to undertake their 
instruction. I did so 5 and in doing it en- 
countered many difficulties, which, because 
the good hand of my God was upon me, I 
surmounted ; and after twenty months 5 in- 
struction under my own roof, I was fully 
convinced that they were sincere converts 
to the Christian Religion, and that their 
minds were under a very gracious influ- 
ence ; at their own earnest desire, I admit- 
ted them into the Church of Christ by bap- 
tism. 

Expecting that they might soon return 
to India, and being well aware that there 
were several points of Christian knowledge 
on which their information must necessari- 
ly be imperfect, F thought it best to em- 
body an r i systematize those instructions 
which I had frequently given them, that they 
might be able at all times to have recourse 
to them, and be the better qualified to speak 
with their enemies in the gate, of whom 
they expected no inconsiderable numbers 
both in rank and learning. I have done 
what I intended, and made a copy for 



via Advertisement. 

each to take with him on his journey ; not 
having even the slightest thoughts of com- 
mitting it to the press : but their ozvn en- 
treaties, as well as those of several judi- 
cious friends, who thought it might be use- 
fujl as a tract for the Foreign Missions, and 
a profitable manual to manj at home, have 
induced me, my own judgment on the whole 
concurring, to give it, by means of the 
press, a wider circulation. 

That I see nothing in the Holy Scrip- 
tures but what is consistent with what is 
commonly called the orthodox faith, will 
not surprise those who know me : — I quar- 
rel with no man on accoartt of the pecu- 
liarities of his religious creed ; 1 believe 
my own to be the truth of God; and am, 
as I have long been, a hearty well-wisher 
to all mankind, a servant of the Church* 
and a friend to the public. , ^ 

ADAM CLARKE, 

London, 
Maytitii, 1820. 



A 

LETTER 



TO 



ADAM SREE GOONA MUNHI RAT'HANA, 
VADHEYGAY, 

AND 

ALEXANDER DHERMA RAMA, APOTANTREYGAY, 

Formerly Teerunanxies, or High-priests ofBudhoo, 
in the Island of Ceylon. 



Millbrook, Feb. 14th> 1820. ' 

My Dear Friends, 

Having heard in your own country, 
though indistinctly, of that Supreme God, who 
is the sole Object of the Christians' worship ; 
and of that Christ, through and by whom, He 
dispenses salvation to the human race ; you 
took a long and painful journey from your na- 
tive island to visit that favoured nation, where 
this God is more especially known and adored, 
that you might learn among His genuine fol- 
lowers to know his nature, and the nature of 
that worship which Himself has prescribed. 
1* 



10 Letter. 

In the course of His unsearchable, but gra- 
cious providence, you were placed under my 
care ; and it has been my earnest and anxious 
study to lead you to this God, through the Son 
of His love, who died for the offences of a sin- 
ful world, and rose again for the justification 
of men; and has commanded repentance and 
remission of sins to be preached in His name 
among all nations. And it is with great satis- 
faction and gratitude to God, that I hope I can 
say, neither your application nor my endea- 
vours have been in vain. 

You have learned to know that God who is 
the Father of the spirits of all flesh ; and who 
is not willing that any should perish, but that 
all should come to the knowledge of the truth, 
and be saved. You have sought His favour 
through the Lord Jesus Christ, and He has 
often afforded you the drawings of His Spirit. 
These He has granted you, only as a specimen 
of what he will communicate if you follow on 
to know the Lord ; that is, if you search the 
Scriptures diligently, and pray much to God, 
placing your whole confidence for salvation in 
the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. In short, 
He will give you to know and to feel, that you 
are not only turned from idols to the living 
God ; from vain hope and superstitious fears, 
to that hope which maketh not ashamed ; and 
that fear which is the beginning of wisdom : 
but he will also give you to know and feel that 
you are adopted into the family of heaver), and 



Letter. 11 

become the sons of God> by faith in Christ 
Jesus. 

After long and carefully studying our holy 
religion, and finding that our blessed Lord 
commands His disciples to baptize all converts 
to Christianity with water, in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 
you have applied to me for that baptism; and af- 
ter having been well instructed in its nature, im- 
portance, and design, }^ou received it in a most 
solemn manner, in the public congregation, 
where prayers from more than a thousand 
hearts were offered up to God for your pre- 
sent and eternal happiness ; and you there 
felt, that in answer to those prayers, and your 
fervent supplications, God did pour out His 
gracious Spirit upon you, so that you found 
such peace of conscience, such joy in God, as 
your tongues were incapable of expressing. 
Thus, then, by this public profession you have 
put on Christ : you have assumed the Christian 
name ; you have promised to be His faithful, 
loving, obedient servants to the end of your 
days : in a word, " to renounce the devil and 
all his works, the pomps and vanities of this 
wicked world, and all the sinful desires of the 
flesh ; and to keep God's holy will and com- 
mandments, and walk in the same all the days 
of your life." Thus you have taken the true 
God to be your God ; and He has taken you to 
be His children. You have promised to be obe- 
dient to Him ; and He has engaged to furnish 
you with that graee and strength, without which 



12 Letter. 

no good act ever was, or ever can be done. 
For this heavenly help you must continue to 
pray, humbly offering all your desires, pray- 
ers, and obedience, unto God through Jesus 
Christ your Saviour; who alone can make 
them acceptable in His sight who is the Foun- 
tain of infinite purity and justice. You have 
also promised to take up the cross of Christ ; 
" not to be ashamed of Christ crucified, but bold- 
ly confess Him, and fight manfully under His 
banner against the world, the flesh, and the de- 
vil." Be steady ; God's grace will ever be 
sufficient for you ; and, after having guided you 
by his counsel through life, He will, if you con- 
tinue steadfast in the faith,at last receive you in- 
to His eternal glory, by Christ Jesus. Amen. 
As your stay with me has been too short to 
acquire both the English language, and a ge- 
neral knowledge of the Sacred Writings, and 
the doctrines they contain, and you may pos- 
sibly soon return to your native land, I have 
drawn up the following short, but comprehen- 
sive, view of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and 
New Testaments, and the principles of religion 
derived from them ; to which I have added a 
few directions, by attending to which you will 
never read this Divine word without gaining an 
increase of heavenly knowledge, and an in- 
crease of religious experience. I wish you to 
have always at hand those principles which 
have often been the subject of my teaching, 
and of your learning ; that understanding them, 
and the reasons on which they are founded, 



Letter. 13 

you need not be afraid of your most cunning 
adversaries ; but be always able to give tbem 
that ask you, a reason of the hope that is in 
you ; and which I trust you will ever feel it 
your duty and interest to recommend to the 
n©tice and consciences of your Heathen coun- 
trymen , who are still lying in that darkness, out 
of which, by the mercy of the true God, you 
have now risen. I know that it is your pre- 
sent purpose to announce to the Heathen in 
your own country, and in continental India, 
the Gospel of the grace of God. In reference 
to this, should God call you to such a work, I 
wish to give you a few particular directions. 

1. If you go forward in the spirit of the 
©riginal apostles and followers of Jesus Christ, 
trusting not in man, but in the living God, He 
will enable you to pull down the strong holds 
of sin and Satan, and that work by which He is 
pleased, will prosper in your hands. 

2. Remember, that as the souls of sinners 
are saved by the mere mercy and power of God; 
by the same principles is the world to be con- 
verted. Human might, authority, or influence, 
can do little here : " it is not by might, nor by 
power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of 
Hosts," that this great work is to be perform- 
ed. Zech. iv. 6. 

3. The primitive disciples of Jesus Christ, 
when they went to the Heathen, as you are 
now going, had nothing to recommend them 
but the simplicity and holiness of their lives, 
and the excellency of the Doctrine which they 



14 Letter, 

preached : and they had no support but that 
which they received from their Lord. But 
this was sufficient to pull down the strong 
holds of sin and the devil. The weapons of 
their warfare were not carnal, such as world- 
ly men use ; but they were spiritual, such as 
God furnishes : and they were, therefore, 
mighty through God. They had Christ in 
their hearts, they had a powerful love for the 
perishing souls of men ; and they went forth in 
His strength, proclaiming to the Gentiles the un- 
searchable riches of Christ. 

4. The same work is still to be done ; and 
the same grace and simplicity of heart are 
equally requisite now, as formerly. Do not 
suppose that human strength, and human learn- 
ing howsoever useful, will accomplish now, 
what it required the arm of the Almighty to 
perform in those primitive times. The hearts 
of sinners are as dark and as hard now, as 

formerly ; and nothing but the light of God can 
illuminate them, and nothing but the power of 
God can make them soft. Trust, therefore, 
in Him, both in behalf of your own souls, and 
in behalf of those to whom you may minister : 
and point them, and ever go yourselves, to that 
" Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the 
world." Johni. 29. 

5. There is one thing more, of which it may 
be requisite to apprize you. As preachers of 
the gospel of Jesus, do not expect worldly 
honours : these Jesus Christ neither took to 
Himself, nor gave to His disciples. If you be 



Letter. IS 

faithful, you will have that honour that comes 
from God : His Spirit will say in your hearts, 
" Well done, good and faithful servants." In- 
stead of receiving the honour that comes from 
men, you may possibly be despised, defamed, 
and persecuted. For the " laws of Christ 
condemn a vicious world, and gall it to re- 
venge ; and as the religion of Christ gives no 
quarter to vice, so the vicious will give no 
quarter to that religion. Do not wonder, 
therefore, if you should be mocked, insulted, 
and abused : " if they have persecuted me" said 
Jesus, u they will also persecute you." This 
the primitive disciples found : but they tell us 
that, far from being discouraged on this ac- 
count, " they rejoiced that they were counted 
worthy to suffer shame for His namesake." 
Acts v. 41. His true ministers have ever found 
the same spirit in the unconverted. You have 
read of the persecutions of the primitive 
Christians ; and you have also read of the 
many holy men, bishops, ministers, and others, 
who have lost their lives in this country, when 
lawless power, false religion, blind zeal, and 
brutish bigotry prevailed : but these blessed 
martyrs all died in triumph — they glorified God 
in the fires ; and, when consuming at the stake 
in the raging flames, they possessed the high- 
est consolation of God, and rejoiced that ever 
they were born ! Should you be ever called 
to bear the same testimony, you will doubtless 
find the same grace and support. 



16 Letter. 

I mention these things, because their oc- 
currence is possible — yet it is not very likely 
that you will be called to suffer personal abuse. 
Wherever you go, whether in India or Ceylon, 
you will be under the protection of the mild 9 
excellent, and powerful laws of the British 
King ! These laws you know are vastly supe- 
rior to all those of which you have heard or 
read Of this king, (under whose government 
you have received the light of life ; and in 
whose paternal kingdom you have found,though 
strangers and foreigners, a place of refuge ; 
and among whose subjects you have found so 
many friends and brothers ;) you cannot but 
speak well. 1 know you love him, and his 
administration ; and I know that you will de- 
clare to your countrymen what blessings they 
enjoy, who live among the Christian subjects 
of a Christian king. And I am sure I need 
not add that you will ever feel love, attach- 
ment, and gratitude to that Religious Society 
(the Wesleyan Methodists,) who cheerfully 
took you by the hand, on your first landing in 
this country, and placed you under my care ; 
with the wish that you should have every thing 
necessary for your bodies and your souls. How 
this wish has been accomplished, while under 
my roof, yourselves know best. If I have 
been faithful, my work is with the Lord : and 
for my cares and anxieties, I ask only an inte- 
rest in your prayers. ~~ 

To what 1 have said in the foregoing pages ? 
I need scarcely add any thing further.— The 



Letter. 17 

Holy Scriptures tell you, that your adversary 
the devil goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking 
whom he may devour ; 1 Peter v. 8. therefore 
watch, pray, believe, love, and obey. 

Watch against his temptations; watch against 
your own spirits. 

Pray much in private. Pray for God's grace 
to make you humble and teachable. Pray for 
His Spirit to help your weakness. Pray for 
Divine light, and pray for holiness of heart. 

Believe on the Lord Jesus, as having died 
for you. Believe on Him as your Intercessor 
at the throne of God. 

Love Him who first loved you, and called 
you from darkness into His marvellous light. 
Love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and 
strength. 

Obey Him affectionately in all things : obey 
Him as your Master, your King, and your 
God ; and continue in His truth until death. 

Persevere in doing His will ; i. e. whatso- 
ever He commands. Persevere in suffering 
His will, cheerfully bearing whatsoever af- 
fliction or trial He may permit to come upon 
you. " I now commend you to God, and to the 
word of His grace, which is able to build you 
up, and to give you an inheritance among all 
them who are sanctified." 

I am, my dear friends, 

Your affectionate Teacher and 
Servant in Christ Jesus, 

ADAM CLARKE- 



GENERAL ACCOUNT 

OF THE 

SACRED WRITINGS. 



Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye hate 
eternal life ; and they are they which testify of ME. — 
John v. 39. 

^//Scripture is given by Inspiration of God; 
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof for instruction 
■in righteousness ; that the man of God may be perfect, 
thoroughly furnished unto all good works, — 2 Tim. iii. 
16, 17. 



JL HAT Collection of Writings delivered by 
Divine Authority to the Jews by Moses and 
the Prophets, and which the Jewish church 
has always received as divinely inspired, in- 
cludes thirty-nine Books, the names of which 
are the following : Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, 
Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 
I. Samuel, If. Samuel, I. Kings, II. Kings, I. 
Chronicles, II. Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah 9 
Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, 
Canticles, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Eze- 
kiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jo- 
nah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuh, Zephaniah, 
Haggai, Zechariah 9 and Malachi. 



General Account, fyc. 19 

These books collectively have had a variety 
of appellations each of which serves to point 
out some excellence, of those writings, as con- 
tradistinguished from all others. 

The Jews have divided them into three 
classes, which they have termed, 1 . rmn To- 

RAH. 2. OW3J NEBYIM. 3. DUWDH Ha-KE- 

thubim : or, as we sometimes express it, The 
Law, The Prophets, and The Hagiographa. 

The Law, included in the Pentateuch, or five 
first books, they considered as coming imme- 
diately from God Himself to Moses. 

The Prophets, greater and smaller, (with 
which they connected Joshua, and Judges, the 
two Books of Samuel, and the two Books of 
Kings,) they received as extraordinary messen- 
gers, deriving their authority from God, without 
the intervention of man ; and delivering pre- 
dictions and expostulations, as they were moved 
by the Holy Spirit. 

The Hagiographa, containing the Psalms, 
Proverbs, Job^ Canticles, Ruth, Lamentations, 
Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, 
and Chromicles, they acknowledged as divinely 
inspired also ; but not to have been given on 
such extraordinary occasions as those on which 
the Law, and the different oracles delivered 
to the prophets, had been communicated. 

1. The whole of these books collectively, 
they sometimes termed *npon Ha-MiKRA, The 
Reading ; emphatically signifying, that these 
records were alone worthy to be read and stu- 
died, because of their importance, antiquity, 



20 General Account of 1 

and Divine inspiration. It was from this epi- 
thet of the Sacred Writings of the Jews, that 
M, hammed horrowed the word &)J$S Al-Ko~ 
ran, which he prefixed to his pretended re- 
velations ; and which has the same meaning 
with the Hebrew Nnporiiia-MiKRA, both signify- 
ing The Reading. 

2. In order to distinguish these Sacred Books 
from all others, they were termed by the Jews 
in those places where the Greek language pre- 
vailed, At Tpa^av, Ai -Gr ap hai, TheScRiPTUKES ? 
or Writings, as being alone worthy of being 
written and preserved ; 1. Because of their 
high importance. 2. Because they contain- 
ed the most ancient writings in the world ; 
the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments, a part 
of the book of Exodus, being probably the first 
regular production in Alphabetical characters, 
ever seen by man ; and the Pentateuch, or Jive 
books of Moses, being unquestionably the old- 
est record in existence. 

3. Testament, mna Berith, or Covenant, 
Aiaeyxv], was another term used at a very early 
period, to designate these Divine Oracles ; as 
they contained the covenant, or agreement, 
made between God and the people of Israel. 

St. Paul calls the sacred books before the 
time of Christ H Ua%ata Atafl*^, he Palaia 
Diatheke, The Old Covenant, 2 Cor. iii. 14. 
which is a very proper and descriptive title of 
the grand subject of those books. This apos- 
tle evidently considers the Old and New Testa- 
ments as two Covenants, GaL i v. 24. and, in com- 



The Sacred Writings, 21 

paring these two together, he calls one na^tuoy 
Aca^^y, the Old Covenant ; the other xawtjv, 
the New: one rtpwr^y, theirs*; the other 
#>£at>, that which is recent. In opposition to the 
Old Covenant , which was to terminate in the 
New, he calls this apcttfT'oya, better* more excel- 
lent, Heb. vii. 22. viii. 6. and atoycoy, everlast- 
ing, Heb. xiii. 20. because it is never to be 
changed, or terminate in any other ; and is to 
endure endlessly itself. 

The word Covenant, we borrow from the 
Latin convenio, from con, together, and venio, 
I come ; signifying a contract or agreement 
made between two parties ; to fulfil the condi- 
tions of which they are mutually bound. The 
Old Covenant, in its essential parts, was very 
simple ; I will be your God, Y*; shall be my 
People ; — the spirit of which was never chan- 
ged. The people were to take Jehovah as the 
sole Object of their religious worship ; put 
their whole trust and confidence in Him ; and 
serve Him in His own way, according to the 
prescribed forms which He should lay be- 
fore them. This was their part. On His side, 
God was to accept them as His people ; give 
them His Spirit to guide them ; His mercy to 
pardon them ; His providence to support them ; 
and His grace to preserve them unto eternal 
life. But all this was connected with the 
strict observance of a great variety of rites 
and ceremonies, at once expressive of the holi- 
ness of God, the purity of Divine justice, and 
the exceeding sinfulness and utter helpless 
2* 



2£ General Account of 

state of man. A great part of the four latter 
books of Moses is employed in prescribing and 
illustrating these rites and ceremonies ; and 
what is called the New Covenant is the com- 
plement, or fulfilment and perfection of the 
whole. 

4. When the writings of the Evangelists and 
Apostles were added, to distinguish them from 
the others, they were termed H Kaw;? Ata0^, 
He Koine Diatheke, The New Covenant, or 
Testament, signifying the New agreement 
made between God and all mankind, the Gen- 
tiles as well as the Jews, the first or Old Cove-^ 
nant being made principally in favour of the 
latter ; which New Covenant was ratified by 
the incarnation, siiffierings, death, and resurrec- 
tion of Jesus Christ, as the succeeding collec- 
tion of principles point out. 

The books containing this New Covenant 
or Testament are twenty-seven in number ; 
and have been divided into four classes: — I. 
The Gospels. II. T/f,e Acts o/^e Apostles. 
III. The Epistles. IV. The Apocalypse, or 
Revelations. 

The names of these books are the following : 
The Gospels of St. Matthew, of Mark, of Luke, 
and of John ; The Acts of the Apostles, probably- 
written by St. Luke. The Epistles of St. 
Paul : — To the Romans — First and Second to 
the Corinthians — To the Galatians — To the 
Ephesians — To the Philippians — -To the Colos- 
sians — First and Second to the Thessalonians — 
First and Second to Timothy— To Titus— To 



The Sacred Writings. 23 

Philemon — And to the Hebrews — The Epistle 
of St. James.— The first and Second Epistles 
of St. Peter.— The First, Second, and Third of 
St. John.— The Epistle of St. Jude.— And the 
Book of the Apocalypse , or Revelation; proba- 
bly written by St. J©hn, the author of the Gos- 
pel and the three Epistles mentioned above. 



Having given a general view of the Bible, as 
a collection of Sacred Writings, it may be neces- 
sary for the benefit of the young and unexpe- 
rienced to give a more particular account of 
the contents or subject of each book, included in 
this collection. 

THE BOOKS OF THE OLD COVENANT. 

I. THE PENTATEUCH, OR FIVE BOOKS OF 
MOSES. 

Genesis. 

This book has its name from the Greek word 
ra^tftj, used by that ancient Greek version of 
the Scriptures commonly called the Septuagint, 
which signifies generation, or origination ; be- 
cause this book gives an account of the origin, 
or beginning, of all things. It begins at the 
creation of the heavens and the earth ; gives 
an account of the creation and fall of man ; the 
history of the first inhabitants of the world; 



24 General Account of 

the origin of nations ; the call of Abraham ; 
and the history of the Hebrew Patriarchs ; 
and ends at the death of Joseph ; comprehend- 
ing the space of about 2400, or at the lowest 
computation of 2369 years. 

Exodus. 

The name of this book is also borrowed from 
the Greek E|o$os, Exodus, which signifies the go- 
ing out or departure; because the departure of 
the people of Israel from Egypt, to go to Canaan, 
or the land of Judea, promised by God to their 
fathers, is the most remarkable fact contained 
in the book. It gives an account of the birth 
of Moses, the Jewish lawgiver ; and contains a 
history of the transactions of 145 years, begin- 
ning at the death of Joseph, B. C. 1635, where 
the book of Genesis ends, and coming down to 
the erection of the tabernacle in the wilderness 
of Arabia, at the foot of Mount Sinai, B. C* 
1490. 

Leviticus. 

This book has the name of Leviticus, be- 
cause it treats principally of the Levites, the 
descendants of Levi, the son of the patriarch 
Jacob, who were all devoted to the service of 
God in the tabernacle and temple. It also 
gives an account of the priests, the sons and 
descendants of Aaron, the brother of Moses ; 



The Sacred Writings. tb 

and of all the ceremonies to be observed in the 
different sacrifices and religious feasts prescri* 
bed by God . It seems to contain little more than 
the history of what passed during the eight days 
employed in consecrating Aaron and his sons to 
the priesthood. The above occurrences are 
supposed to have takenplace in the year of the 
world 2514, i. e. 1490 years before Christ, 

Numbers, 

This book has been called Numbers from its 
containing an account of the numbering and 
marshalling the Israelites in their journey 
through the wilderness, or desert of Arabia, 
to the Promised Land. It comprehends the 
history of between thirty-eight and thirty-nine 
years; i. e. from 1490 B. C. to 1451 B. C. 
and gives a distinct account of the several sta- 
ges of the Israelites' journey ; the various oc- 
currences in the way ; their trials, rebellions, 
punishments, deliverances, conquests, &c. with 
the several laws and ordinances, not mentioned 
in the preceding books ; together with a repe- 
tition and explanation of several others which 
had been previously mentioned. The whole 
forming a most interesting history of the jus- 
tice, mercy, and providence of God. 

Deuteronomy. 

This book has its name from the Greek 
Aw* spoj/o^ov, Deuteronomion, which signifies the 
second law^ because it contains a repetition of 



26 General Account of 

the preceding laws. It includes an account of 
what passed in the wilderness from the^rs^ day 
of the eleventh month of the fortieth year after 
the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, to 
the seventh day of the twelfth month of the same; 
making in the whole the history of the trans- 
actions of exactly^e weeks. Besides a repeti- 
tion of the previous tos, this book gives us 
the finest illustrations of each, so that it may 
well be called a spiritual comment on the laws 
of Moses ; and also an account of the death of 
this most eminent man, and all his last discour- 
ses with the people. It is continued about 
seven days after his death. For he began to 
deliver his first discourse to the people in the 
plains of Moab the first day of the eleventh 
month of the fortieth year, chap. i. 3. and died 
on the first day of the twelfth month of the same 
year, aged one hundred and twenty years. 

IT. THE HISTORICAL BOOKS. 

Joshua. . 

This Book was probably written by the per- 
son whose name it bears ; and is properly a 
continuation of the Book of Deuteronomy. It 
begins where that ends, immediately after the 
death of Moses ; for by this great man Joshua 
was appointed general and leader of the Israel- 
itish people ; and under his direction it was, 
that they entered the land of Canaan. It con- 
tains an account of all Joshua's battles ; his 



The Sacred Writings. 27 

conquest of the land ; division of it by lot to 
the twelve tribes according to their different 
families ; exhortations to the people ; remark- 
able providences of God : and concludes with 
Joshua's death, at the age of 110 years, 1443 
years before the Christian era. It seems to 
include the period of about eight years. 

Judges. 

This Book contains a history of a high class 
of Israelitish magistrates, called by the name 
of judges, raised up at particular times by the 
especial providence of God, to deliver the peo- 
ple from their enemies, and to govern them 
according to the law of God. The duration of 
this species of government, from the death of 
Joshua to the reign of Saul, was about 348 
years. But as this Book does not include the 
government of Eli and Samuel, the two last judg- 
es, but ends at the death of Samson, which hap- 
pened in the year of the world 2884 ; conse- 
quently, it includes the period of only 323 years. 

Ruth. 

This Book, which contains the interesting 
history of the woman whose name it bears, is 
a sort of appendix to the Book of Judges ; and 
introduction to the Books of Samuel, next fol- 
lowing. Ruth was a Moabitess, who was mar- 
ried to a Hebrew of the name of Mahlon, born 
in the land of Moab, where his parents Elime- 
lech and Naomi had gone to sojourn in a time 



28 General Account of 

when a famine had obliged them to leave theii 
own country. Elimelech dyin'g, Naomi, his 
widow, returned to Judea, her daughter-in- 
law Ruth accompanying her, whose husband 
had lately died. Arriving at Bethlehem, Ruth 
was soon known by a kinsman of her own, nam- 
ed Boazy who took her to wife, from whom 
sprang Obed n the father of Jesse , who was the 
father of David, the progenitor of the Messiah. 
The Book seems to have been written to as- 
certain the genealogy of our Lord. 

1st Book of Samuel. 

Samuel was an eminent prophet, and the last 
of the Israelitish judges ; and most likely the 
author of the materials which constitute the 
two Books that go under his name, though pro- 
bably compiled by another hand. The first 
Book contains an account of the Israelitish af- 
fairs under the government of Eli the high- 
priest, who was the fourteenth judge ; under 
Samuel the. fifteenth ; as also an account of Saul, 
the first king of Israel, his reign and death, 
with which the Book concludes. It seems to 
include a period of about 115 years. 

2d Book of Samuel. 

This Book is a continuation of the preceding ; 
and includes the history of the reign of David, 
the successor of Saul, and comprises the pe- 
riod of about forty years, 



The Sacred Writings, 29 



1st Book of Kings. 

This Book gives an account of the death of 
David, the reign of Solomon his son, the build- 
ing of (he Temple, the death of Solomon, the di- 
vision of the empire under his son Rehoboam 
into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah ; the 
idolatry of the ten tribes under Jeroboam, who 
seized on that part of the empire called the 
kingdom of Israel, and the transactions of the 
various kings of Israel and Judah down to the 
death of Ahaziah, king of Israel, and Jehosha 
phat, king of Judah. The whole including a 
period of one hundred and nineteen years, 

2d Book of Kings. 

This Book contains the history of the Jewish 
and Israelitish kings down to the destruction of 
Judah by the Chaldeans, succeeded by the 
Babylonish captivity, including a period of 
three hundred and eight years. 

1st Book of Chronicles. 

This and the following Book have their name 
from the Greek word #pow;ca, Chronica, from 
%povo$, chronos, time, signifying a narrative of 
€ vents, registered according to the times ^ 
reigns, and years, in which they happened, 
The first Book, in the nine first chapters, con- 
tains several genealogies, from the Creation 
3 



30 General Account of 

down to the Babylonish captivity. The rest 
of the Book gives the history of the reign of 
David, beginning at the death of Saul, B. C. 
1056. 

2d Book of Chronicles. 

This Book contains the history of the kings 
of Judah, from Solomon to the Babylonish cap- 
tivity. It is very similar 10 the Books of 
Kings ; giving in many places the same events ; 
but scarcely ever mentions the idolatrous kings 
of Israel ; confining itself in general to the 
kings of Judah who reigned in Jerusalem. 

Ezra. 

In this Book we are informed that Cyrus, 
king of Persia, into whose hands the Babylo- 
nian empire had fallen, permitted the captive 
Jews whom he found scattered through his 
provinces, to return to their own land, under 
Zerubbabel, one of the Jewish princes, and Je- 
shua the high-priest : the oppositions they met 
with till the accession of Darius to the Persian 
throne, who gave leave to the Jews to rebuild 
their temple which had been destroyed by Ne- 
buchadnezzar, king of Babylon ; and sent Ezra,. 
a man of great eminence, to assist them in the 
work. This man was full of faith and the 
Holy Spirit : he collected all the Sacred Books 
of the Jews, placed them in that order in which 
they now stand, and rendered the returned 



The Sacred Writings. 3'i 

Jews the most important services. Ezra flou- 
rished about 450 years before Christ. 

Book of Nehemiah. 

This is a continuation of the history of the 
Jews after their return from captivity. Nehe- 
miah was cupbearer to Artaxerxes Longimanus, 
or, as the Persians call him, Ardsheer Diraz- 
dest, the long-handed Ardsheer, who, at his re- 
quest, permitted him to go to Jerusalem seve- 
ral years after Ezra had gone thither, to settle 
the Jewish state, which was then in great dis- 
order. He took two several journeys to Jeru- 
salem, rebuilt the walls, restored the Divine 
worship, rectified a number of abuses, and 
again returned to the Persian court. He was 
a man of amazing resolution and fortitude, 
tempered with much wisdom, piety, and pru- 
dence ; and is a model for all civil governors. 
Nehemiah flourished about 440 years before 
Christ. 

Esther. 

This woman was a Jewish captive ; and be- 
came queen to Ahasuerus, king of Persia, about 
458 B. C. She was, in this capacity, the 
means of preventing the massacre of the whole 
Jewish nation, which had been plotted by Ha- 
man, prime minister and favourite of the king. 
It details the whole history of these transac- 
tions, and of the wonderful providence of God 



32 General Account of 

in raising her to the throne, preserving the 
Jews, and defeating their enemies. 

III. POETICAL BOOKS, AND THOSE WHICH 
CONTAIN MAXIMS FOR THE GOVERN- 
MENT OF LIFE. 

Job. 

This Book gives the history of an Arabian 
chief illustrious for his riches, patience, and pie- 
ty. It contains principally conversations in a 
highly poetical strain between him and his 
friends, concerning the providence and perfec- 
tions of Gov. He was at first very rich and 
affluent ; but God permitted him to be depri- 
ved of his property and children, and also to be 
sorely afflicted in his body : all which he bore 
with exemplary patience, which was at last re- 
warded with a double increase of temporal 
blessings, and the high approbation of his Ma- 
ker. When he flourished, is very uncertain. 

Psalms. 

This is a Book of 150 most elegant and spi- 
ritual hymns, chiefly written by king David. As 
poetic effusions, they excel every thing written 
by man ; and from their depth and sublimity, 
their just descriptions of the majesty and per- 
fections of God, the nature and consequences 
of sin, and the heights and depths of holiness, 



The Sacred fVriti7igs. 33 

properly challenge a distinguished place among 
the inspired writings of the Old Testament. 

Proverbs. 

This Book contains a very large collection 
of wise sayings, spoken at different times by 
Solomon, king of Israel, and other eminent sa- 
ges ; affording counsels and maxims for the di- 
rection and regulation of every department, 
office, and circumstance of life. They are 
delivered in a high oriental strain ; and many 
be said to contain all the wisdom of the ancient 
world. 

ECCLESIASTES. 

A Book supposed to have been written by 
Solomon in order to shew the vanity of the 
world, and of human life, whether in high or 
low estate : and that no happiness can be ex- 
pected by the human soul, but in the fear, love, 
and obedience of God. 

Canticles, or The Song of Solomon. 

This is a very highly finished Hebrew ode, 
which, if literally taken, seems to describe 
the great love and affection which subsisted be- 
tween Solomon and his queen, the daughter 
of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. But most com- 
mentators suppose it to be an allegorical poem, 
in which Solomon represents Christ, and his 
3* 



34 General Account of 

Queen the Christian Church. Taken in this 
sense, it shews the great love which Christ 
bears to His genuine followers ; and the duty 
and affection which they owe to Him. It is in 
the form of a pastoral. 

IV. MAJOR PROPHETS. 

Isaiah. 
» 

This most eminent and holy man began to 
prophesy about 760 years before Christ, un- 
der Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, and Ma- 
nasseh, kings of Judah. This last king was ex- 
tremely wicked ; and under his reign, and by 
his command, it is said that Isaiah suffered 
martyrdom, being sawn asunder with a wooden 
saw ! He is supposed to have been of the blood- 
royal of Judah ; and is the most sublime of all 
the prophets. His prophecies are so clear and 
minute, that they appear rather to be narra- 
tions of things past y than predictions of things 
to come. Of these prophecies the five first 
chapters are supposed to have been delivered 
in the reign of Uzziah ; the sixth in the reign 
o£ Jotham; the seventh to the fifteenth in the 
reign of Ahaz ; and the rest in that of Hezekiah. 
His predictions of the advent, sufferings, death, 
resurrection, and glorious conquests of Jesus 
Christ, are so clear and pointed, as to have 
gained him the appellation of The Evangelical 
Prophet. He spoke dearly also of the calling 
of the Gentiles ; and foretold the ruin that Ne= 



The Sacred Writt7igs. 35 

buchadnezzar brought on the Tyrians, Moab- 
ites. Ammonites, Edomites, and Philistines ; and 
also the ruin of Nebuchadnezzar himself, and 
the Babylonish empire. He is supposed to 
have prophesied about fifty or sixty years. 

Jeremiah. 

This man was a priest of the tribe of Benja- 
min ; and entered on the prophetic office about 
the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah, king 
of Judah, seventy years after the death of 
Isaiah, He foretold the ruin, captivity, and 
restoration of the Jews, and the destruction of 
the Babylonish empire. He also predicted the 
calling of the Gentiles. He lived to see the 
siege and destruction of Jerusalem, and suffer- 
ed much himself, all which he feelingly de- 
scribes. When Jerusalem was taken, and the 
king of Babylon had committed the government 
of the land to Gedaliah, Jeremiah continued in 
Judea : but Ishmael, who was of the seed royal, 
having slain Gedaliah, the remaining Jews, fear- 
ing the Chaldeans, fled to Egypt, whither this 
prophet was carried, and there died or was 
put to death. He prophesied about forty-five 
years during the reigns of Josiah , Jehoiakim, 
and Zedekiah, and under the government of 
Gedaliah ; about 588 years before Christ. 

Lamentations. 

The Lamentations of Jeremiah composed 
after the destruction of Jerusalem, and the 



36 General Account of 

captivity of Judah, are divided intone distinct 
chapters, which are so many beautiful elegies 
bewailing those sad events. Chap, i — iv. are 
written in acrostichs, each verse beginning with 
a letter of the Hebrew alphabet in consecutive 
order. The third chapter is written in double 
acrostichs ; and the fifth in single lines, without 
this artificial order. 

Ezekiel. 

This prophet was one of the Jews who was 
carried captive to Babylon, with Jehoiakim, 
king of Judah. He began to prophesy in 
Chaldea, about the fifth year of the captivity, 
before Christ 595 years ; and continued about 
twenty-five years. He preached against the 
iniquities of the Jews ; and foretold the de- 
struction of several neighbouring nations, ene- 
mies to the Jews. He was chiefly sent for the 
edification of the poor captives in Babylon. He 
foretold the calling of the Gentiles, and the glo- 
rious state of the church of God, under the si- 
militude of a temple, the parts of which be very 
minutely describes. He is on the whole very 
obscure. 

Daniel. 

This prophet was also one of the captives m 
Babylon, whither it is supposed he was carried 
when very young. He was contemporary with 
Ezekiel ; and was famous for wisdom, penetra- 



£* 



The Sacred Writings. 37 

uon, and piety. Hfs prophecies concerning 
the Messiah ; the destruction of Jerusalem ; 
the formation of the Chaldean, Persian, Greek, 
and Roman empires, and their revolutions ; are 
so very clear, that their very dates are fixed. 
That concerning the advent and death of our 
Lord is the clearest prophecy ever delivered : 
though he lived nearly 600 years before our 
Lord, he foretold the very year in which He 
should be manifested, and the year in which He 
should be cut off. He, and his companions* 
after running great risks, and suffering great 
hardships, were raised to great honours in the 
kingdom of Babylon. His prophecy is a lasting 
monument against the Jews of the truth of the 
Christian religion. He died about 536 years 
before Christ. 

V. THE TWELVE, MINOR PROPHETS. 

Hosea. 

This prophet is thought by some to have 
been the earliest of all the prophets. He was 
certainly contemporary with Isaiah ; and ex- 
ercised his office in tke kingdom of Israel, 
about the same time that Isaiah exercised his 
in the kingdom of Judah. His prophecies are 
chiefly directed against the ten tribes, pre- 
viously to their being carried into captivity. 
He also predicts the coming of the Messiah, 
and the glorious state of the Christian church. 
He flourished from 785 to 725 years before 
Christ, 



38 General Account of 



Joel. 

This prophet was contemporary with Hose&t 
and flourished about 785 years before the In- 
carnation. His prophecy may be considered 
in the light of a very solemn sermon, warning 
the Jews to repent of their sins ; foretelling a 
grievous famine which was to be occasioned 
by an innumerable host of locusts ; promises 
the penitent God's mercy ; and fortells in a 
very pointed manner that great out-pouring of 
the Divine Spirit which should take place un- 
der the gospel dispensation. 

Amos. 

This man was neither of the sacerdotal nor 
•prophetic order : but was a herdsman, a keeper 
of cattle, in the territory of Tekoa ; and was 
sent by God to call the people of Israel to 
repentance, and denounce the Divine judg- 
ments against the workers of iniquity. He 
foretells the judgments of God which were to 
fall on the Syrians, Philistines, Tyrians, Edom- 
ites, Moabites, and Ammonites. He flourished 
about 787 years before Christ. 

Obadiah 

This is the shortest of all the prophets. His 
prophecy refers to the Edomites, the descend- 
ants of Esau, whom he threatens with utter 



The Sacred Writings. 39 

destruction, because of their cruelty and op- 
pression to the Jews. It is supposed that he 
lived about 587 years before the Christian 
era ; and was contemporary with Jeremiah 
and Ezekiel. 

Jonah. 

Jonah was a native of Gath-Hepher, in Gali- 
lee ; and was sent by God to denounce His 
judgments against the Ninevites : but, fearing 
for his personal safety, he determined on leav- 
ing his own country ; and so took ship, and 
endeavoured to escape to Tarshish. Meeting 
with an extraordinary storm, the sailors, con- 
cluding that there must be some person aboard 
against whom there was Divine wrath, ques- 
tioned him on the subject. He confessed his 
sia, was thrown overboard, and was swallowed 
by a fish, in whose belly he remained three 
days and three nights ; and was a type of our 
Lord's death and resurrection. The fish hav- 
ing cast him up on dry land, he went to Ni- 
neveh, delivered the Divine message, the peo- 
ple trembled, fasted, and repented, and were 
saved. He is supposed to have flourished 
about 862 years before our Lord. 

Micah. 

This prophet was sent to reprove both Is- 
rael and Judah for their manifold sins, which 
he did, with great warmth and fidelity. He 



40 General Account of 

foretold their captivities ; conforted the god- 
ly ; and predicted the incarnation of our Lord, 
mentioned the very place of his birth, Beth- 
lehem, described his offices, as King and 
Priest of his people ; and foretold the glory of 
the Christian church in the latter days. He 
flourished at the same time with Isaiah and 
Hosea, about 750 years before the Christian 
era. 

Nahum. 

Though the Ninevites had repented at the 
preaching of Jonah, they did not continue to 
bring forth the fruits of repentance. This 
prophet was, therefore, sent to foretell their 
destruction, and the ruin of the Assyrian em- 
pire, of which Nineveh was the capital. This 
destruction was effected by the Medes and 
Babylonians, about sixty years after. Nahum 
lived under the reign of Hezekiah, about nine- 
ty years later than Jonah, or about 772 years 
before the Christian era. He is the most sub- 
lime and energetic of all the minor prophets^ 

Habakkuk. 

The preceding prophet foretold the destruc- 
tion of the Assyrians who carried the ten tribes 
into captivity ; and Habakkuk foretold the ruin 
of the Chaldeans, who completed the captivity 
of this unhappy people, by carrying away the 
two tribes that remained. He is supposed to 



The Sacred Writings. 41 

have been contemporary with Jeremiah, and 
to have flourished about 6 6 years before our 
Lord. The Prayer in the third chapter of this 
prophecy is inimitably fine. 

Zephaniah. 

This prophet was sent to the Jews under 
Josiah to foretell them of their approaching 
captivity by the Chaldeans, on account of their 
idolatry, and other heinous offences ; of which 
he strenuously exhorts them to repent. He 
foretells also the destruction about to be brought 
on the Philistines, Moabites, Ethiopians, and 
Assyrians. He flourished about 630 years 
before Christ. 

Haggai. 

This prophet, with the two following, were 
sent to the Jews after their return from the 
Babylonish captivity. He reprehends their ^ 
negligence in not building the temple, being 
more intent on their secular interests than on 
the glory ef God ; on account of which God 
sent a dearth, by which they had been griev- 
ously distressed. At his instigation, the peo- 
ple resumed the work, which had been sadly 
neglected ; and the temple was soon finished : 
and though that temple was much inferior to 
that built by Solomon, yet he foretold that 
its glory .should be greater than that of the 
former ; which was accomplished in the Mes- 
4 



42 General Account of 

siah's honouring it with His presence and 
preaching. He lived about 520 years before 
Christ. 

Zechariah. 

This was the second prophet sent to the 
Jews after their return from captivity ; and 
he encouraged the people to proceed with 
the building of the temple. There are many 
prophetic visions in this book which relate to 
the Jews ; and several prophecies relative to 
our Lord; his riding into Jerusalem as a King; 
the thirty pieces of silver., for which Judas sold 
his Master ; the destruction of the Jews ; and 
the calling of the Gentiles. He flourished 
about 520 years before our Lord. 

Malachi. 

This was the third and last prophet sent to 
the Jews after their return from the Babylo- 
nish captivity. From his prophecy, it appears 
that the Jews were in his time greatly cor- 
rupted. They had not only neglected, but 
profaned, the Divine service : these he sharp- 
ly reproves ; and encourages them much, who 
in those times of degeneracy continued faith- 
ful. He foretells the coming of Christ ; and 
very clearly speaks of his forerunner, John 
the Baptist. He intimates, that no other pro- 
phet would be sent to them ; and that they 
must be careful to observe the law of Moses, 



The Sacred Writings, 43 

till the Advent of the Messiah. He flourished 
about 397 years before the Incarnation ; and 
was the last prophet ever sent to the Jewish 
people. His book, therefore, properly closes 
up the canon of the Old Testament. 

About his time Ezra, under the direction of 
the Holy Spirit, had made a complete collec- 
tion of all the Sacred Books of the Jews, in 
which all the major as well as the minor pro- 
phets were included ; though some think 
that Simon the Just added Chronicles, Ezra, 
Nehemiah, Esther, and Malachi, to Ezra's 
work. This is the same collection which ex- 
ists to the present day ; to which nothing has 
been added, and from which nothing has been 
taken away. See Ezra. 

The next extraordinary Messenger with whom 
the Jews were favoured, was John the Bap- 
tist, of whom this prophet (Malachi) so clear- 
ly speaks. After him came God manifested 
in the flesh; who, before His ascension to 
heaven, commissioned His disciples, who were 
afterwards called Apostles, to " go into all the 
world, and preach the gospel to every crea- 
ture, beginning first at Jerusalem." — Luke xxiv. 
47. This was accordingly done ; and the word 
of the Lord had free course, ran, and was 
glorified. 



44 General Account of 



GENERAL ACCOUNT OF THE BOOKS C0£ 
TAINED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 



Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were writ- 
ten for our learning ; that we, through patience and com- 
fort of the Scriptures, might have hope. — Rom. xv. 4. 



I come now to consider the writings of the 
New Covkna.vt, which were the effect of this 
revelation of Jesus Christ, and the mission of 
His Apostles^ and shall divide them into four 
classes : — 

I. The Historical Books; including the four 
Gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles. 

II. The thirteen Epistles of St. Paul. 

III. The Catholic or general epistles : viz. 
of James, Peter, John, and Jude. 

IV. The Apocalypse, or Book of the Reve- 
lation. 

Of these different books I shall endeavour 
to point out the author, the time when written, 
and the chief subject of each. 



I. THE HISTORICAL BOOKS; VIZ. THE 
FOUR GOSPELS, AJYD ACTS OF THE 
APOSTLES. 

St. Matthew. 

This Evangelist is supposed to be the same 
who is also called Levi, son of Alpheus. He was 



The Sacred Writings, 45 

by birth a Jew ; and, like the rest of our 
Lord's disciples, a native of Galilee; and ap- 
pears to have been at first a collector of the 
public taxes tinder the Roman government. 
He was called by our Lord to be a disciple, 
when sitting in his public office by the sea- 
side, near the city Capernaum. 

He was placed by our Lord in the number 
of His Apostles, and continued with Him during 
His life. After the ascension of Christ, he 
was at Jerusalem ; and received the Holy Spi- 
rit with the rest of the disciples, on the day of 
Pentecost. His Gospel, (t. e. his history of 
the incarnation, preaching, miracles, death, re- 
surrection, and ascension of our Lord) is gene- 
rally allowed to be the most ancient part of the 
writings of the New Covenant. It is very pro- 
bable that he wrote this book in Hebrew? about 
the eighth year after the ascension of our 
Lord, or A. D. 37. and that it was by himself, 
or some other, translated into Greek about 
A. D. 61. 

Matthew being a constant attendant on our 
Lord, his history is an account of what he saw 
and heard ; and, being influenced by the Holy 
Spirit, his history is entitled to the utmost de- 
gree of credibility. Whether he was martyr- 
ed for the truth, or died a natural death, is un- 
certain. 

St. Mark. 

This is the same who is called John Mark; 
and who travelled from Jerusalem to Antioch 
4* 



46 General Account of 

with Paul and Barnabas, and afterwards into 
other countries. — Acts xii. 25 xiii. 5. 

It is supposed that he wrote this Gospel at 
Rome, about A. D. 64. and that he died at Alex- 
andria, in Egypt, in the eighth year of the reign 
of Nero, the Roman emperor. It is very pro- 
bable that he had seen the Gospel written by 
St Matthew, as he omits several things which 
are amply detailed by that evangelist : at the 
same time he inserts several curious particu- 
lars, not mentioned by any of the others* 

St. Luke. 

St. Luke is the most elegant of all the evan- 
gelical writers ; bis language being purer, and 
much more free from Hebraisms, than any of 
the rest. He was an early convert to Chris- 
tianity, and was St. Paul's fellow-labourer, 
(Philemon, ver. 24.) and accompanied him when 
he first went to Macedonia ; and from Greece 
through Macedonia and Asia, to Jerusalem ; 
and from Jerusalem again to Rome, where he 
staid with him the two years of his imprison- 
ment in that city. It is generally believed 
that he finished and published his Gospel, and 
the Acts of the Apostles, in Greece, about A. D. 
47. both of which he dedicates to Theophilus, 
an honourable Christian friend of his in that 
country. His Gospel, like those of the pre- 
ceding evangelists, gives an accountof the birth, 
preaching, miracles, crucifixion, resurrection, 
and ascension of our Lord. It is supposed 



The Sacred Writings. 4tf 

that he died in peace about the eightieth or 
eighty-fourth year of his age. 

St. John. 

This evangelist was the son of a fisherman 
named Zebedee, and his mother's name was Sa- 
iome. They were probably of Bethsaida ; and 
the father and his sons James and John followed 
their occupation on the sea of Galilee. Both 
these brothers were called to the Apostleship ; 
and John is supposed to have been about twen- 
ty-Jive years of age when he began to follow 
our Lord. It is likely that he was one of our 
Lord's relatives ; and was that disciple whom 
it is said our Lord loved: that is, he had a pecu- 
liar affection for him. He was also an eye and 
ear witness of our Lord's labours, journeyings, 
discourses, miracles, sufferings, crucifixion, 
death, resurrection, and ascension. 

The Gospel of John pre-supposes the Gos- 
pels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke : the grand 
facts he has in common with them ; but he sup- 
plies many particulars which are not found in 
the others. St. Matthew seems to labour to 
prove the fact of the reality of our Lord's in* 
carnation or humanity : 09 the other hand, 
John takes up the eternal Divinity, which he 
powerfully establishes ; and gives us many in- 
valuable discourses and conversations of our 
Lord with his disciples, as well as several mi- 
racles that are not found in the other evange- 
lists . No one of the Gospels gives us the 



48 General Account of 

"whole history of our Lord ; we must read all 
four j to have this complete. John was banish- 
ed by the Roman emperor Domitian to the isle 
of Patmos in the JEgean sea : but his successor 
Nerva, having recalled all the exiles banished 
by Domitian, John returned to Ephesus, where 
he died, aged upwards of one hundred years. 
The Holy Virgin is said to have lived with him 
till her death, which took place about fifteen 
years after the crucifixion. 

Acts of the Apostles. 

The Book of the Acts of the Apostles is the 
fifth and last of the historical books. It was 
doubtless written by St. Luke, probably about 
A D . 63. ; and is dedicated to the same noble per- 
sonage, Theophilus, to whom he dedicated his 
Gospel. The design of the apostle in writing 
this book appears to have been two-fold : 1 . To 
relate in what manner the gift3 and graces of the 
Holy Ghost were communicated on the day of 
Pentecost; and the subsequent miracles per- 
formed by the apostles, by which the truth and 
Divine origin of Christianity were confirmed. 
2. To deliver such accounts as proved the 
claim of the Gentiles to admission into the 
Church of Christ. In this book we see how 
the Christian church was formed and settled. — 
The Apostles simply proclaimed the truth of 
Go4, relative to the passion, death, resurrec- 
tion, and ascension of Christ ; and God accom- 
panied their testimony with the demonstration 



The Sacred Writings. 49 

of His Spirit. The consequence was, thou- 
sands embraced Christianity, and openly pro- 
fessed it at the risk of their lives. They were 
converted, not merely from one religious senti- 
ment to another ; but from sin to holiness. Their 
tempers, passions, and moral prospects, were 
all changed ; and they only lived to bring glory 
to God, and do good to men. This mighty 
change is every where in this book attributed 
to the power of the Holy Spirit, which took of 
the things which were Christ's, and applied 
them to the souls of the people Such was the 
Christian Church at its formation : and such it 
must be to the end of the world, if it deserve 
the name of Christian. 

II. THE THIRTEEN EPISTLES OF 
ST. PAUL. 

The Epistle to the Romans. 

Paul, at first called Saul, was born of Jewish 
parents at Tarsus, a city of Cilicia. When 
young, he was sent to Jerusalem for the pur- 
pose of receiving a Jewish education ; and was 
placed there under a most eminent doctor or 
Rabbi, called Gamaliel, He joined the Jewish 
sect called Pharisees, who were at once the 
best learned, the most proud, hypocritical, and 
intolerant of all the Jews. Paul imbibed much 
of their spirit, as he acquired the whole of 
their learning. He became proud, overbear- 
ing, and haughty ; and grievously persecuted 



50 General Account of 

the Christians : but as he was on his way from 
Jerusalem to Damascus, with authority from 
the chief priests, to bind and variously perse- 
cute all that bore the Christian name, he had a 
most remarkable vision, which see related in 
Acts, chap. ix. in consequence of which he 
carefully examined and embraced the Chris- 
tian faith ; and afterwards became one of the 
most zealous promoters and successful defend- 
ers of that cause, which he had before so in- 
veterately persecuted. 

Of his labours, sufferings, and travels, we 
have an ample account in the book of the Acts. 
He was long imprisoned at Rome ; and at length 
suffered martyrdom, having his head cut off, 
by an order of the Roman emperor Nero, on 
June 29, A. D. 66. 

Rome, to whose inhabitants, or rather to the 
Christian Church there, this Epistle was di- 
rected, was the metropolis of the Roman em- 
pire, and the mistress of the world. 

The occasion of writing this Epistle was the 
follwoing : — Many Gentiles as well as Jews 
having been converted by the preaching of the 
Gospel, the latter refused to admit the former 
to all the privileges of the church of Christ, un- 
less they submitted to be circumcised ; as they 
supposed that this was the only gate through 
which they should be admitted into the fold. 
In this Epistle St. Paul shows, that the Jewish 
rites and ceremonies were done away ; that all 
men, both Jews and Gentiles, had sinned against 
God : and that no sacrifices or observances of 



The Sacred Writings, 51 

the Jewish law could make atonement for sin , 
(for by its works no soul could be justified ;) 
God had therefore appointed a new way of sal- 
vation, the sacrifice of Christ, and faith in that 
sacrifice. That this privilege was not granted 
to the Jews alone, but equally to the Gentiles ; 
that none could be saved, but in this way ; and 
that those who were thus saved stood upon the 
broad ground of God s infinite mercy, and were 
equal in their religious rank, rights, and privi- 
leges. This view of the subject gave the apos- 
tle ample scope, 1st, to show the absolute in- 
efficacy of human works, whether consisting in 
moral obedience, or in observation of religious 
rites and ceremonies, to purchase the favour of 
God, or make an atonement for sin : and, 2d, 
the sovereign efficacy of the death of Christ, 
and faith in the merit of that death, to bring 
the soul into the favour of God, and give it a 
right to eternal life. That sacrificial offering 
of Christ being the sole grand procuring cause, 
and faith the means of applying its benefit to 
the guilty conscience. 

1st Epistle to the Corinthians. 

Corinth, to which this and the following Epis- 
tle were sent, was one of the most celebrated 
cities of Greece, It is situated on a gulf ot the 
same name ; and was anciently the capital of 
the Peloponnesus, or Achaia. It was joined 
to the main land by a narrow isthmus, or neck 
of land, that had the port of Lecheum on the 



52 General Account of 

West, and the port of Cenchrea on the East, by 
which it commanded the commerce both of the 
Ionian and JEgean seas. By the port of Leche 
um it received the merchandise of Italy, and of 
the western nations ; and by the port of Cenchrea 
it received that of the JEgean sea, the coasts of 
Asia Minor, and of the Phoenicians. As this ci- 
ty abounded in riches, so did it in luxury and 
corruption of manners : and no place in the 
habitable globe needed the gospel of Christ 
more than this did. Here a church was found- 
ed, the principal members of which were emi- 
nently endowed with the gifts and graces of 
God's Spirit: but as some distentions had ari- 
sen among them concerning things lawful and 
unlawful, what might be done with a clear con- 
science, and what ought not to be done, they 
wrote to St. Paul to give his judgment, and set- 
tle these disputes. This first Epistle is in answer 
to that letter ; in which, among other things, 
he discusses the question of the unlawfulness of 
eating things offered to idols ; and enters at 
large into a consideration of that most import- 
ant doctrine, the resurrection from the dead, 
and its proofs drawn from the natural and mo- 
ral world, and from the resurrection of the body 
of our blessed Lord. 

2d Epistle to the Corinthians. 

The preceding Epistle having been well re- 
ceived, and its exhortations and reprehensions 
having produced the desired effect ; the apos- 



The Sacred Writings. 53 

tie writes this to comfort and confirm them in 
the truth. He reproves a false apostle who 
had insinuated himself among them, and en- 
deavoured to render their minds evil affected 
towards himself. In this Epistle he vindicates 
his own doctrine and conduct against the asper- 
sions of that false apostle, gives an affecting ac- 
count of his own trials and sufferings, and 
strongly exhorts them to holiness of heart and 
life. 

Epistle to the Galatians. 

Galatia or Gallogrmcia, was anciently a part 
*f Phrygia in Asia xWinor, bounded on the east 
by Cappadocia, on the west by Bithynia, on the 
south by Pamphylia, and on the north by the 
Euxine sea. 

The church of God founded in this place 
seems to have been greatly perplexed and dis- 
turbed by some Jewish teachers, who endea- 
voured to persuade the converted Gentiles, 
that unless they were circumcised, and kept 
the law of Moses, they could not be saved. — 
Many having been stumbled and turned aside 
by these teachers, the apostle wrote to them, 
1. To vindicate his own apostleship which 
those false teachers had undervalued. 2. To 
assert and maintain the doctrine of justification 
by faith, from which they had been departing. 
And, 3. To call them back to the liberty of the 
gospel from which, under those bad teachers, 
some of them had apostatized. He proves at 
5 



54 General Account of 

large, 1. That no rites or ceremonies of the 
Jewish law could avail in their justification. 2. 
That their own works could avail nothing in re- 
ference to their acceptance with God ; the only 
way of salvation being by faith, and that this 
was the original way, for Abraham was justifi- 
ed by faith long before the Law was given. 
3. That the curse of the law was upon every 
sinner, and is not removed but by the sacrifice 
of Christ. 

Epistle to the Ephesians. 

Ephesus was a very famous city of Ionia, and 
once the metropolis of that part of the world. 
The grand subject of this Epistle is to prove, 
that the great mystery of God, which had been 
hidden from all former ages, was opened and 
explained by calling the Gentiles into the church, 
making them one with the converted Jews, and 
placing them under the one great and only Shep- 
herd, Christ Jesus. The apostle also shows the 
necessity of the doctrine of justification by faith; 
enters into a description of the heights, lengths, 
and breadths, of Christian holiness ; points out 
the enemies of true believers ; shows them the 
spiritual armour with which they are to defend 
themselves ; and concludes by giving them the 
most pointed directions relative to the cultiva- 
tion of their hearts, their moral conduct, and 
particularly their exact fulfilment of all the re- 
lative duties. 



The Sacred Writings. 55 

Epistle to the Philippians 

Philippi was a town of Macedonia, in the con- 
fines of Thrace, and near the northern extremi-. 
ty of the JEgean sea. St. Paul first preached 
the gospel here about A. D. 53, and estab- 
lished one of the most pure and excellent 
churches. False teachers had crept into this 
church also, against whom he warns the peo- 
ple, exhorts them to unity and concord, points 
out to them the glory which shall be revealed 
to the truly faithful, speaks of the blessedness 
of his own experience, and thanks and com- 
mends them for the contributions they sent to 
supply his wants. 

Epistle to the Colossians. 

Colosse, or Colassa, was a city of Phrygia Pa- 
catiana, now a part of Natolia in Asia Minor , 
situated on an eminence on the south side of 
the river Meander, There is a very great si- 
milarity between this Epistle, and that to the 
Ephesians. It contains the very depth and es- 
sence of Christian doctrine, and Christian expe- 
rience ; strongly excites to holiness of heart and 
life ; and exhorts to a regular fulfilment of the 
relative duties, viz. parents and children, hus- 
bands and wives, masters and servants, $«c. 

1st Epistle to the Thessalonians. 

Thessalonica, now called by the Turks Salo- 
nichi y is a seaport town of Turkey in Europe^ 



56 General Account of 

and anciently the capital of Macedonia. Paul 
and Silas preached the gospel in this city about 
A. D. 51 or 52. This Epistle is probably the 
first that St. Paul wrote : and it appears that 
the church of Thessalonica was the purest of 
all the apostolic churches. The apostle finds 
scarcely any thing among them to reprove 
They had received the whole truth as it was in 
Jesus, and their conduct was conformed to it. 
They had a faith that worked, a love that labour- 
ed, and a hope which enabled them to bear all 
afflictions patiently, and wait for the coming of 
the Lord Jesus. The directions which he 
gives in the last chapter, relative to the per- 
fection of their Christian faith and character, 
are of the utmost importance ; and intimately 
concern all Christian churches, and all who bear 
the Christian name. 

2d Epistle to the Thessalonians. 

It appears that the second Epistle was writ- 
ten shortly after the first, the main design of 
which is to warn the people against crediting 
a false report which they had heard relative 
to the sudden appearing of Christ to judge the 
world; which they had so far received and 
credited, as actually (at least some of them) 
to give up their secular affairs, as being incon- 
sistent with the expectation of so solemn an 
event, so speedily to take place. On this sub- 
ject the apostle sets them right by giving just 
notions of the future judgment, predicts aser- 



The Sacred Writings. 57 

tain apostacy from the faith, and exhorts them 
to obedience and fidelity in all the circumstan- 
ces of life in which God may place them. 

1st Epistle to Timothy. 

Timothy, the person to whom this Epistle 
was addressed, was the son of a Gentile, by a 
Jewish woman named Eunice, the daughter of a 
Jewess named Lois, it is likely that, at the 
time that Lois was converted to the Christian 
faith, her husband was dead, as was also the 
husband of Eunice ; and that the grandmother, 
mother, and son, lived all together. Their son 
Timothy became strongly attached to St. Paul, 
received the Christian faith in its power, be- 
came an Evangelist, and travelled with the 
apostle through different parts, preaching the 
gospel of the kingdom of God. The apostle 
having left him in th * city of Ephesus to su- 
perintend the church in that place, he wrote 
this first Epistle to him, probably about A. D. 
64 or 65, in which he gives him direction, 1. 
To oppose those fables invented by Jewish 
teachers, to recommend the observance of the 
Mosaic law as necessary to salvation. 2. To 
oppose those uncertain genealogies by which 
certain persons wished to show their descent 
from Abraham, on the persuasion that they 
should be saved merely because they were 
his descendants. 3. That he might oppose 
a foolish propensity which they had to the 
discussion of intricate questions, which, instead 
of leading to godliness, engendered strife. — 
5* 



58 General Account of 

4. The apostle gives him suitable directions 
how to act the part of an Evangelist ; how to 
rule the church of God ; and how to repress 
irregularities, and maintain truth. 

2d Epistle to Timothy. 

This was in all probability written a short 
time after theirs*; for the same sort of per- 
sons, doctrines, and practices, are reprobated in 
the second, which were condemned in the first. 
The same commands and instructions are given 
to Timothy in the second as in the Jirst. The 
same remedies for the corruptions which had 
taken place at Ephesus are prescribed in the 
second as in the first. And in this second Epis- 
tle every thing is addressed to Timothy as the 
superintendent both of the preachers and laity in 
the church of Ephesus. All which prove, 
that as the same persons and the same state of 
things continued when this second Epistle was 
written, as when the first was written ; conse- 
quently, both must have been sent within a 
short time of each other. 

In this Epistle St. Paul strongly exhort? his 
son Timothy to hold fast the form of sound 
words which had been delivered to him ; shows 
him what and how to preach ; predicts the evils 
of the latter times, and his own approaching 
martyrdom ; and sends salutations to different 
friends. 

Both Epistles are a treasury to the church 
of Christ, and of the utmost consequence to all 
preachers of the gospel. 



The Sacred Writings. 59 



Epistle to Titus. 

From frequent mention made of this person 
in St. Paul's Epistles, we learn that he was a 
Greek, and most probably a Heathen till con- 
verted to Christianity by St. Paul. He accom- 
panied this apostle in several of bis journeys ; 
and was at last left by him in the island of Crete, 
as superintendent or bishop of the churches 
there planted. Crete is a very large island in 
the Mediterranean sea ; being about 180 miles 
long, by about 40 broad. 

This Epistle is very similar to the first Epis- 
tle to Timothy. They are both principally oc- 
cupied in describing the qualifications of those 
who should be appointed to ecclesiastical offices ; 
and the ingredients in this description are near- 
ly the same in both Epistles. Timothy and 
Titus are both cautioned against the same pre- 
vailing corruptions ; the phrases and expres- 
sions in both letters are nearly the same ; and 
the writer accosts his two disciples with the 
same salutations ; which shows, not only that 
the two Epistles were written by the same per- 
son, but nearly about the same time, viz. A. D. 
«5. 

Epistle to Philemon. 

Philemon seems to have been a person of 
consideration, affluence, and charity, in the city 
tf Colosse ; and a distinguished Christian, who./ 



7 

/ . 

60 General Account of 

had a church at his house; and frequently enter- 
tained the Christians and Christian ministers 
who passed that way. 

The occasion of writing this letter was the 
following : — Onesimus, a slave, had on some 
pretence or other run away from his master 
Philemon, and come to Rome, where St. Paul 
then was as a prisoner, though dwelling in his 
own hired house, and guarded by a Roman sol- 
dier. Onesimus having found him out, was con- 
verted by the apostle, who wrote this letter to 
his friend Philemon in behalf of one who, 
though formerly unfaithful, was now restored 
to a better mind. The recommendation is 
managed with great skill and address, and was 
no doubt successful. The Epistle contains no 
pointed reference to any particular doctrine of 
Christianity; but is a model for recommendato- 
ry and intercessory letters. It was probably 
written about A. D. 62. 

Epistle to the Hebrews. 

This is allowed to have been the last writ- 
ten by St. Paul, of which we have any know- 
ledge ; and was most probably composed in 
A. D. 63. The design was to prevent the Jews, 
who had received the gospel, from turning back 
again to Mosaic rites and ceremonies. And, 
to accomplish this design, he shows them that 
the Law was but the shadow of good things to 
come, and the Gospel the substance; that the 
former without the latter was without meaning* 



The Sacred Writings. 61 

and without use ; and that every thing in and 
under the law. pointed out some corresponding 
spiritual good under the Gospel. The major 
part of the Epistle is a comment upon the Law, 
and the most beautiful illustration of it that 
ever was or can be given. On the prophetic, 
sacerdotal, and regal offices of Christ, it is both 
ample and luminous ; and no man can read it 
without having his head enlightened, and his 
heart mended. It is by far the most elegant, the 
most argumentative, and the most useful Epis- 
tle of the great apostle of the Gentiles. In it 
he concentrates all his learning, all his lecal 
knowledge, and all his evangelical experience 
and unction. The Epistle every where shows 
the hand of a master; and that hand was guided 
by the unerring wisdom of the eternal Spirit 



III. THE CATHOLIC OR GENERAL 
EPISTLES. 

The Epistle of James. 

James the Less, one of the disciples and 
kinsmen of our Lord, has been most generally 
supposed to have been the author of this Epis- 
tle ; and that it is the oldest of all the Apostcy 
lical Epistles, and perhaps prior to any of the 
Gospels. It seems to have been written to 
comfort and edify the believing Jews, who 
were scattered through the different nations of 
the earth. It is written^ much in the style of 



62 General Account of 

a Jewish prophet ; and seems to be a connecting 
link between the Law and the Gospel, as John 
the Baptist was between Judaism and Chris- 
tianity. The style of it is elevated, and the 
diction compressed and clear; and the lessons 
of morality and submission to the Divine will 
which it conveys, are not surpassed by any 
thing found in the writings of the other 
apostles. 

1st Epistle of Peter. 

Peter was a native of Bethsaida, in Upper 
Galilee ; and by trade a fisherman. He and 
his brother Andrew were called early to be 
disciples of Christ. Being married, he had re- 
moved his family to Capernaum ; and his house 
there seems to have been the usual residence 
of our Lord when in those districts. He is 
generally supposed to have obtained the crown 
of martyrdom at Rome, at the beginning of 
Nero's persecution, about A. D. 64 or 65. 

His Epistles seem to be written to believing 
Jews and Gentiles ; especially those who were 
suffering persecution, or were obliged to leave 
their country on account of the gospel, and 
take refuge in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, 
Asia, and Bithynia. He exhorts them to pa- 
tience, submission, perseverance, and holi- 
ness, after the example of our Lord ; and con- 
cludes with suitable exhortations to the elders 
to guard and feed the flock of Christ, 



The Sacred Writings. 63 



2d Epistle of Peter. 

This is addressed to the same persons as the 
first, and on nearly the same occasion. He 
shows that the believing Gentiles, though uncir- 
cumcised, were entitled to the same privileges 
as the believing Jews ; exhorts them to pa- 
tience, and steadiness in their Christian pro- 
fession ; warns them against false prophets, 
and professing Christians, whose lives were 
unholy; refers to the day of judgment, and 
wonderfully describes the action of the fire, by 
which all things shall be destroyed ; but pre- 
dicts a renovation of all things, so tfcat a new 
heaven and a new earth should be, by the power 
of God, generated as out of the old. 

1st Epistle of John. 

The writer of these three Epistles is the 
same as John the Evangelist, of whose history 
we have already had a sketch in speaking of 
his Gospel. This Epistle appears to have 
been written before the destruction of Jerusa- 
lem, and probably in the year of our Lord 68 
or 69. 

The design of this Epistle is to inculcate the 
doctrine of holiness of heart and life springing 
from love to God and mMi. Indeed this love 
seems to be his text, and he has written the 
whole Epistle on this text, His own soul was 



S4 General Account of 

filled with this heavenly fire ; and it shone on, 
and warmed all around. 

2d Epistle of John. 

This Epistle is of a private nature, being 
written to an eminent Christian matron in or 
near Ephesus, probably a deaconess of the 
church ; or one who was in the habit of ac- 
commodating apostles, and itinerant evange- 
lists. He commends her for her piety, for 
the Christian staite and discipline of her fa- 
mily ; warns her against false doctrines, and 
false teachers; and concludes by hoping short- 
ly to pay her a visit. 

3d Epistle of John. 

This is also an Epistle of a private nature, 
being written to an eminent Christian friend of 
the name of Gains, to whom he earnestly 
wishes, — 1. Health of body. 2. Health of 
soul. And, 3. Prosperity in secular affairs. 
He commends him for his charity and hospi- 
tality, warns him against a troublesome ..per- 
son of the name of Diatrephes, and promisee 
to pay him a visit shortly. Both these per- 
sons must have been near the apostle's ha- 
bitation, as he was now about ninety years 
of age, and consequently incapable of taking 
any long journey. Both these Epistles are 
supposed to have been written between A, D. 
80 and $Q. The exact time is not known 






The Sacred Writings, 



Epistle of Jude. 

We know no more of tbis person than 
what he tells us himself, in the beginning of 
this Epistle, that he was " a servant of Jesus 
Christ, and brother of James." But as there 
were several Judes, and several James's, we 
know not which are intended. It is not di- 
rected to any particular church or people, 
but to Christians in general ; and hence it 
has been called a " General Epistle." 

He warns the churches of Christ against 
false teachers, and against apostacy ; and de- 
scribes the false teachers of the time in the 
most vivid colours. The exhortation in verses 
20, 2 1 , is forcible and affectionate ; and the 
doxology in verse 24 and 25 is well adapted to 
the subject, and is peculiarly dignified and sub- 
lime. It is supposed that this Epistle was 
written about the year of our Lord t>4 or 65. 

IV. THE APOCALYPSE, OR BOOK OF THE 
REVELATION. 

This is generally allowed to be written by 
John the Evangelist, author of the Gospel, and 
of the three Epistles lately reviewed ; and 
that it was written while he was an exile in the 
isle of Patmos; and published after his return, 
about A D. 96. It is undoubtedly the latest 
piece of the New Covenant : after which the 
Divine Spirit has not thought proper to add 
6 



66 General Account of 

any thing farther to the Christian code. This s 
therefore, finishes and seals up vision and pro- 
phecy under the New Testament, as Malachi 
does under the Old. 

The Book opens with a splendid appear- 
ance of the Lord Jesus, as the Ancient of 
Days, in his sacerdotal vestments ; who dic- 
tates to John seven Epistles, or Letters, which 
he orders him to send to seven churches in 
Asia Minor ; viz. Ephesus, Smyrna, Perga- 
mos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Lao- 
dicea. 

After these, there are a profusion of hiero- 
glyphic representations; accompanied by a tis- 
sue of most solemn prophecies, supposed to re- 
gard not only the church, but the different go- 
vernments of the world, from that time to the 
day of judgment. Several of these prophecies 
appear to have been already fulfilled, some in 
the act of being accomplished, and others re- 
main which respect future ages. The Book 
is written in great dignity and majesty of 
figure, metaphor, and colouring : and several of 
the prophecies in it bear a striking similitude 
to some in the prophets Ezekiel and Daniel. — 
Obscure as it is, God pronounces a blessing 
on all them who shall read it ; and, because it 
closes the canon of the New Testament and 
Revelation in general, God thus speaks : 

If any man shall add unto these things, God 
shall add unto him the plagues that are written in 
this book. If any shall take away from the 
words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take 



The Sacred Writings. 61 

away his. part out of the Book of Life, and out of 
the Holy City, and from the things which are writ- 
ten in this book. — Rev. xxii. 18, 19. 

With this apostle the Reader may well add, 
unto him that loved us, and washed us from our 
sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings 
and priests unto God and. His Father, to him be 
glory and dominion for ever and ever, Amen. — • 
Rev. chap. i. 5, 6. 



All these books collectively, whether given to 
the Jewish or Christian Churches, are some- 
times termed The Scriptures uf the Old and 
New Testament ; and generally through all 
Christian countries, and in almost all languages, 
The Bible ; from a Greek word j3cj3*os, A Book, 
as heing the only book that teaches the know- 
ledge of the true God ; the origin of the uni- 
verse ; the creation and fall of man ; the com- 
mencement of the different nations of the earth; 
the confusion of languages ; the foundation of 
the church of God ; the abominable and de- 
structive nature of idolatry, and false worship ; 
the Divine scheme of redemption ; the immor- 
talit}' of the soul ; the doctrine of the invisible 
and spiritual world ; a future judgment ; and 
the final retribution of the wicked in the pains 
of eternal perdition, and of the good in the 
blessedness of an endless glory. 

From this Bible, or collection of Sacred Wri- 
tings, the following principles have been ex- 



(38 General Account of 

tracted ; which, though they do not contain 
every particular, yet they exhibit the grand 
principles of revealed religion ; and, in several 
cases, the reasons on which they are founded. 
I have endeavoured to deduce them in their 
dependent and progressive order, that the 
mind may be easily and gradually led from pri- 
mitive to secondary and ultimate truths, through 
the whole economy of Divine justice, mercy, 
and grace, as far as these things are revealed 
to us in the Sacred Writings, or seem fairly 
deducible from the different parts of Divine 
Revelation. 

This is a desideratum, or thing to be de- 
sired, but not yet furnished, which few cate- 
chisms, creeds , or confessions of faith attempt to 
supply, though in them we might reasonably 
expect to find such principles. 

I have seen most compositions of this kind : 
but have not found in any of them such a con- 
densed synopsis, or general view of those prin- 
ciples, on which every Christian must found 
his faith, if he wish it not to stand in the wisdom 
of man, but in the power of God. Bodies of 
divinity, so called, are out of the ques:ion ; 
as being by far too voluminous for the pur- 
pose ; nor do they in general contain princi- 
ples, but rather systems of doctrines, most of 
which are founded on party creeds. 

These Scriptures we know to be revela- 
tions from heaven : 

1. By the sublimity of the doctrines they 
contain ; all descriptions of God, of heaven, 



The Sacred Writings 69 

of the spiritual and eternal worlds, being in 
every respect worthy of their subjects ; and 
on this account, widely differing from the 
childish conceits, absurd representations, and 
ridiculous accounts, given of such subjects in 
the writings of idolaters, and superstitious re- 
ligionists, in all nations of the earth. 

2. The Bible is proved to be a revelation 
from God, by the reasonableness and holiness of 
its precepts ; all its commands, exhortations, and 
promises, having the most direct tendency to 
make men wise, holy, and happy in themselves^ 
and useful to one another. 

3. By the miracles which they record : mi- 
racles of the most astonishing nature, which 
could be performed only by the almighty pow- 
er of God; miracles which were wrought in 
the sight of thousands, were denied by none, 
and attested through successive ages by writers 
of the first respectability, as well enemies as 

friends of the Christian religion. 

4. By the truth of its prophecies, ov predic- 
tions of future occurrences, which have been 
fulfilled exactly in the way, and in those times, 
which the predictions delivered many hun- 
dreds of years before, had pointed out. 

5. By the promises which they contain. — 
Promises of pardon and peace to the penitent, 
of Divine assistance and support to true believ- 
ers, and of holiness and happiness to the god- 
ly, which are ever exactly fulfilled to all those 
who by faith plead them before God. 

6* 



70 General Account of 

6. By the effects which these Scriptures pro- 
duce in the hearts and in the lives of those who 
piously read them ; it being always found that 
euch persons become wiser, better, and happier 
in themselves, and more useful to others : bet- 
ter husbands and wives ; better parents and 
children ; better governors and subjects ; and 
better friends and neighbours. While those 
who neglect them are generally acurse to them- 
selves, a curse to society, and a reproach to 
the name of man. 

7. To these proofs may be added, the po- 
verty, illiterate and defenceless state of our 
Lord's disciples, and the primitive preachers 
of His gospel. The Jewish rulers and priest- 
hood were as one man opposed to them ; they 
sought by every means in their power to pre- 
vent the preaching of Christianity in Judea ; 
the disciples were persecuted every where, 
and had not one man in power or authority to 
support them, or espouse their cause ; yet a 
glorious Christian church was founded even at 
Jerusalem; thousands received and professed 
the faith of Christ crucified, and many of them 
gladly sealed the truth with their blood. When 
they had preached the gospel throughout Ju- 
dea, they went to the Heathens, preached the 
gospel in different parts of the Lesser Asia, 
Greece, and Italy. In all these places they had 
to contend with the whole power and influence of 
the Roman empire, then entirely Heathen, and 
the mistress of all the known world ! Christian 
churches, notwithstanding, were founded every 
where ; and even in Rome itself, the throne 



The Sacred Writings. 71 

of the Roman emperor! Here they were as 
defenceless as in Judea itself; they had to con- 
tend with all the idolatrous priests, with all 
the Greek philosophers, with the secular go- 
vernment, and with the many millions of the 
deluded and superstitious populace, who, insti- 
gated by furious zeal, endeavoured by the 
most barbarous acts of persecution to support 
their false gods, idols, temples, and false wor- 
ship : yet, before the preaching of these poor, 
comparatively unlearned, and totally defence- 
less men, idolatry fell prostrate ; the Heathen 
oracles were struck dumb ; the philosophers 
were confounded; and the people were convert- 
ed by thousands ; till at last all Asia Minor and 
Greece, with Italy, and the various parts of the 
Roman empire, received the gospel, and abo- 
lished idolatry 1 Had not this doctrine been 
from God, and had not He by His almighty pow 
er aided these holy men, such effects could ne- 
ver have been produced. The success, there* 
fore, of the unarmed and defenceless apostles 
and primitive preachers of Christianity is an 
incontrovertible proof that the gospel is a re- 
velation from God ; that it is the means of con- 
veying light and life to the souls of men ; and 
that no power, whether earthly or diabolic, 
shall ever be able to overthrow it, it has pre- 
vailed, and must prevail, till the whole earth 
shall be subdued, and the universe filled with 
the glory of God. Amen, 

Ail these are proofs which cannot be contra- 
dicted, that these Scriptures are a revelation 



*72 General Account of, fyc> 

from God ; and consequently, the only com- 
plete directory of the faith and practice of 
men. 

" The Scriptures of the Old and New Tes- 
tament," said an eminent scholar, " have God 
for their Author ', the salvation of mankind for 
their end, and truth without any mixture of 
error for their matter." 

As a revelation from God, they have stood 
the test of many ages ; and as such maintained 
their ground against every species of enemy, 
and every mode of attack. Truth is mighty, 
and must prevail. 

This revelation is now complete. God will 
add nothing more to it, because it contains 
every thing necessary for men, both in refer- 
ence to this world, and that which is to come : 
and He has denounced the heaviest judgments 
against those who shall add to it, or diminish 
any thing from it. 



pimples 



OF THE 



CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 



I. There is one God, who is self-existing,un- 
created, infinitely wise, powerful, and good : 
who is present in every place ; and fills the 
heavens, and earth, and all things. Now, as 
this onf God is eternal, that is, without be- 
ginning or end, and is present every where, 
and fills all space, Isa. xliv. 6 — 8. there can 
be only one such Being ; for there cannot be 
two or more eternals, or two or more who are 
present every where, and Jill all things. To 
suppose more than one Supreme source of in- 
finite wisdom, power, and all perfections, is to 
assert that there is no Supreme Being in ex- 
istence. A plurality of eternal beings would 
resemble a plurality of universes, eternities, 
and infinite spaces; all which would be con- 
tradictory and absurd. Isa. xliv. 6, 7, 8. 

II. This one infinite and eternal Being is a 
Spirit : i. e. he is not compounded, nor made up 
of parts ; for then He would be nothing differ- 
ent from matter, which is totally void of in- 



74 The Principles of 

telligence and power. And hence He must 
be invisible ; for a spirit cannot be seen by 
the eye of man : nor is there any thing in 
this principle contradictory to reason or ex- 
perience. We all know that there is such 
a thing as the air we breathe, as the wind 
that whistles through the trees, fans and cools 
our bodies, and sometimes tears up mighty 
trees from their roots, overturns the strong- 
est buildings, and agitates the vast ocean : 
but no man has ever seen this air or wind ; 
though every one is sensible of its effects, 
and knows that it exists. Now, it would be as 
absurd to deny the existence of God, because 
we cannot see Him, as it would be to deny 
the existence of the air or wind, because we 
cannot see it. 

As, to reason and sense, the w ? ind is known 
to exist by the effects which it produces, though 
it cannot be seen ; so God is known by His 
works: and a genuine Christian is as conscious 
that this Divine Spirit works in, enlightens, 
and changes his heart, as he is that he breathes 
the air. and feels the action of the wind upon 
his body ; and is either chilled, cooled, or re- 
freshed, by its breezes. John iv. 24. iii. 8. 

III. In this God there are found Three Per- 
sons,not distinctly or separately existing; but in 
one infinite unity ; who are termed Father, 
Son, and Spirit; or Gon the Father, God the 
Son, and God the Holy Ghost; all existinginthe 
me infinite and eternal Godhead; neither being 



The Oiristian Religion. lb 

before or after the other, neither being greater 
or less than the other. These three Divine 
Persons are frequently termed among Chris- 
tians The Trinity. 1 John v. 7. Luke 
iii. 22. 

IV. This God is the Creator, Governor, and 
Preserver of all things : all creatures, animate 
and inanimate, owe their being to Him ; and 
by Him they are all supported. John i. 3. 
Neh. ix. 6. 

V. The works of creation show God to be 
infinitely powerful, wise, and good. His pow- 
er is seen in the vastness or magnitude of His 
works ; His wisdom is seen in the skill and 
contrivance, so evident in each, and in the 
whole ; and His goodness is seen in the end 
for which each has been formed : for He has 
made all intelligent and animate beings capable 
of happiness ; and He has so contrived their 
bodies, minds, and different parts, as well as 
the things by which they are surrounded, that 
this happiness is, in general, within their reach. 
Psa. civ. 4. 

VI. Man is one of the chief works of God, 
His soul was created in the image of G-d, i. e» 
in righteousness and true holiness ; and his body 
was formed out of the dust of the ground. 
There was no imperfection in his body, a ma- 
chine of the most complicate, curious, and 
difficult contrivance : and no sinfulness in his 
mind; for God, who is all perfection, could 
make nothing that is imperfect ; and He, who 



76 The Principles of 

is infinitely holy, could make nothing that is 
impure. Gen. i. 27. 

VII. But from this state of perfection and 
purity man fell, by his disobeying the com- 
mandment of God ; and so became liable to 
sickness, death, corruption, and dissolution in 
his body ; and became ignorant , sinful, and 
vicious in his soul; which imperfections and 
sinful propensities he communicated to all his 
posterity : for as the stream must ever be the 
same with the fountain from whence it flows ; 
so all generations of men must necessarily 
have the same kind of nature with those from 
whom they are descended. Adam, the first 
man, was made in the image and likeness of 
God : but, when he sinned, he lost that 
Divine image ; and then, when he begat chil- 
dren, it is said in the Sacred Writings, that he 
begat them in his own image, Gen. v. 3. i. e. 
sinful and corrupt like himself. And in this 
state all human beings that are born into the 
world are still found : and their sinful disposi- 
tions lead them unto sinful practices ; so that 
the whole human race are fallen, and all are 
sinners against God and their own souls. Psa. 
xiv. iii 

VIII. God, who is infinitely good, showed 
His mercy to fallen sinful man by promising 
him a Saviour who was to come in that time, 
which God should see to be the most suitable. 
Gen. iii. 15. 

IX. This Saviour was no less a Person than 
the Lord Jesus Christ, who in that suitable 



The. Christian Religion, 77 

time was to take upon Him the nature of man, 
by assuming a human body ; which He subject- 
ed to death, that he might make a sacrifice and 
atonement for all those who were partakers 
of the same nature, i. e. for the whole human 
race. Matt. i. 21, 28. Heb. ii. 9. 

X. Jesus Christ, as man, could suffer and 
die ; as God, He was incapable of either : but 
it was necessary that His human nature should 
suffer in order to make an atonement ; and it 
was necessary that His Deity should be united 
with that humanity, in order to make its suf- 
fering of infinite value, that thereby a suitably 
atonement might be made for the sins of the 
world. 1 Pet. iii. 18. 

XI. The law which God gave to men was 
given to human nature That nature trans- 
gressed this law ; on that nature, therefore, 
Divine justice had a claim ; and from it that 
justice had a right to demand satisfaction. — 
To have destroyed that human nature existing 
at the time of the transgression in the first hu- 
man pair only, would have been inconsistent 
with the innumerable purposes of Divine jus- 
tice, mercy, and providence ; therefore, God 
permitted them to live and propagate a pos- 
terity upon the earth : but in His infinite love 
He found out a Redeemer for this fallen na- 
ture. But this Christ or Redeemer took not 
upon Him the nature of angels, but the seed of 
Abraham, that is, human nature, that in the 
nature which sinned He might make the expi- 
ation required. Heb. ii. 16. 

7 



73 The Principles of 

XII. It was also necessary that this Redeem- 
er should be infinitely Divine and perfect ; as 
the end of His great undertaking was not only 
to purchase pardon for a world of offenders, 
but to merit eternal happiness for mankind. — 
Now an infinite happiness cannot be purchased 
by any price less than that which is infinite in 
value ; and infinity of merit can only result 
from a nature that is infinitely Divine or per- 
fect. Col. i. 17. 

XIII. Accordingly we find that, about 4000 
years after the creation, this Jesus Christ was 
born in Judea, of a Virgin, whose name was 
Mary, in whose womb His human nature was 
conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost ; 
and about thirty-three years afterwards, having 
wrought multitudes of miracles, the most as- 
tonishing and beneficent, and preached that 
heavenly doctrine called the Gospel, or Good 
News, He gave up His life at Jerusalem as a 
sacrificial offering for the lives of all mankind. 
He was buried; rose again, by that Divine 
power which could not suffer death, on the 
third day, according to His own predictions ; 
and gave commission to His disciples, (holy 
men to whom He had taught the mysteries of 
the kingdom of heaven,) to go into all the 
world, and preach His Gospel to every crea- 
ture ; which they and their successors have 
done, and are doing : and by these means 
Christianity has been spread and established 
in the earth ; and will finally prevail in every 
nation of the world according to His own most 



The Christian Religion. 19 

positive declarations. Luke ii. 11. Isa. liii. 9. 
1 Tim. ii. 6. Mark xvi. 15. 

XIV. God has assured mankind that there 
is and can be no salvation but through Jesus 
Christ: that for the sake, and on the account, 
of His sacrificial sufferings and death He can 
forgive sins ; and on no other account will He 
show mercy to any soul of man. Eph. i. 7. 

XV. As all have sinned, and come short of 
the glory of God, and are consequently ex- 
posed to endless punishment, and no man can 
make an atonement for his own soul, God has 
commanded all who hear the Gospel to believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ ; that is, to believe on 
Him as having died for them, and to believe 
that his sufferings and death are a sufficient sa- 
crifice for their sins; and consequently, to offer 
this sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ 
as a ransom price for their souls. Mark 
xvi. 16. 

XVI. But it is not likely that any person will 
feel his need of Jesus Christ as his Saviour, 

unless he feel that he is sinful, guilty, and can- 
not help himself : hence the Holy Scriptures 
require men to repent ; that is, to turn from 
and be deeply sorry for their transgressions, 
to mourn and be distressed for having sinned 
against God ; and to implore His mercy 
through Christ Jesus, by fervent and conti- 
nued prayer. Acts iii. 19. xviii. 30. 

XVII. The Scripture gives no hope to any 
man, that his sins can be blotted out, or his 
soul saved, by any thing he can do, or ha* done, 



80 The Principles of * 

or by any sufferings through which he can pos- 
sibly pass : every man, therefore, must come ta 
God through Christ, to be saved by free grace, 
and mere mercy alone. Rom. iii. 24. Eph. ii. 3. 

XVIII. When a sinner comes thu* to God, 
with a broken and contrite heart, believing and 
trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for sal- 
vation, God freely pardons him ; and he knows 
andfeels that he is pardoned, because his dark- 
ness and distress are all taken away ; and the 
Spirit of God bears witness with his spirit that 
he is a child of God : this God has promised ; 
and, therefore, it is the privilege of every 
Christian to know that his sins are forgiven 
him for Christ's sake : and of this fact there 
are thousands of living witnesses in the Chris- 
tian church. Let it ever be remembered, 
that genuine faith in Christ will ever be pro- 
ductive of good works ; for this faith worketh 
by love, as the apostle says : and love to God 
always produces obedience to His holy laws. 
Rom. v. 5. viii. 16. 

XIX. Pardon, or forgiveness of sin, implies, 
that the man's guilt is taken away ; and that 
he is no longer in danger of falling into endless 
punishment: but it does not imply that the evil 
of his nature is wholly removed ; for this is a 
separate work of God's mercy. Romans v. 1. 
viii. 1. 

XX. Hence, God promises His Holy Spirit 
to sanctify and cleanse the heart, so as utterly to 
destroy all pride, anger, self -will, peevishness, 
hatred, malice, and every thing contrary to His 



The Christian Religion.. 81 

own holiness. 1 Thess. v. 23. Rom. viii. 13. 
Ezek. xxxvi. 25 — 27. 

XXI. The work of pardon on the conscience 
is called justification ; the work of holiness 
in the /tear* is termed sanctification : — these 
two comprise the whole salvation of the soul 
in this world . He who is completely sanctified, 
or cleansed from all sin, and dies in this state, 
is fit for glory. Rev. iii. 5. 

XXII. Let it be therefore remembered, that 
repentance must go before justification ; that 
justification must go before sanctification ; 

I and that sanctification must go before glori- 

i fication. Consequently, he who does not re- 

! pent and forsake sin cannot be justified, he 

who is not justified cannot be sanctified, and 

he who is not sanctified cannot be glorified. 

XXIII. As the grace that produces any of 
these states may be lost through sin, or care- 
lessness ; hence the necessity, that the tr ue 
penitent should continue to watch and pray till 
he is justified ; that, when justified, he should 
continue to watch and pray, and deny himself, 
and take up his cross, till he is sanctified; and, 
when sanctified, he should continue the same 
course, believing, loving, and obeying, till he is 
glorified. .. As he will be in danger as long as 
he lives of falling from grace, so he should con- 
tinue to watch and pray, believe, and main- 
tain good works, as long as he breathes : 
for while thus employed, humbly trusting in 
the Lord Jesus, he cannot fall. 1 Cor. ix. 27 

7* 



82 The Principles of 

2 Pet ii. 17. Mark xiv. 38. xiii. 37. 2 Pet 
ii. 1Q. 

XXIV. Jesus Christ has ordained only two 
sacraments, or religious ceremonies ; — The first 
baptism, by which we enter into His church ; 
and the second the Lord's Supper, often called 
the Sacrament, by which we continue mem- 
bers of His church. The former implies be- 
ing dipped in, or sprinkled with water, in the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. The water is an emblem of the 
cleansing and purifying influence of the Holy 
Spirit ; and the whole of the act itself signifies 
a consecration of the person to the endless ser- 
yice and glory of the ever blessed Trinity, 
that is, Father, Son,*^ind Holy Spirit, in whose 
name he has been baptized. The second or ho- 
ly sacrament is an emblem of the sacrificial 
death of Christ; the bread which is used signify- 
ing His body that was crucified, and the wine His 
blood that was shed for the sins of the world. 
But the bread and wine are only emblems of 
this body and blood ; not changed into that of 
our blessed Lord, as some have erroneously 
imagined. He, therefore, who receives the 
Holy Sacrament professes thereby that he ex- 
pects salvation only through the incarnation, 
death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. — 
Matt, xxviii. 29. xxvi. 26, 27, 28. 

XXV. The body is mortal, and must die and 
mingle with the earth, out of which it was 
made : but it shall be raised again by the pow- 
er of Christ, in what is called the Resurrec- 



The Christian Religion. 83 

tion from the dead. But the soul is immor- 
tal, and can neither die nor perish : but in the 
resurrection the body and soul shall be again 
united, both of the just and of the unjust. — 
Heb. ix. 27. 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52. John v. 28, 
29. Eccl. xiii. 7. 

XXVI. After the resurrection comes the ge- 
neral judgment, in which God shall render 
unto every man according as his works have 
been : those who have lived and died in sin 
shall be sent into hell, and be thus for ever 
banished from God and the glory of His pow- 
er : these who have here received the grace 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and have been faith- 
ful unto death, shall be brought into the king- 
dom of glory, and be eternally with the Lord. 
John v. 29. Rev. ii. 10. 

XXVII. In the interim, from death to the 
resurrection, all souls shall be in a state of 
conscious existence ; the wicked having a fore- 
taste of the misery that awaits them, and the 
good having a foretaste of the blessedness which 
is prepared for them. But neither can be su- 
premely happy or wretched till the souls are 
joined to their respective bodies ; otherwise a 
day of judgment would be rendered unneces- 
sary : for as the works for which they shall be 
punished or rewarded were done in the body; 
so they must be joined to their bodies before 
they can be capable of bearing the due degree 
of punishment, or enjoying the fulness of eter- 
nal glory. Luke xxiii. 43. 



S4 The Principles of 

XXVIII. Those who, at the day of judg- 
ment, are sentenced to punishment, shall ne- 
ver escape from perdition ; and those who are 
taken to glory, shall never fall from it. Both 
states shall be eternal. Matt. xxv. 46. 

XXIX. The Bible, from whence the above 
principles are drawn, is a revelation from 
God Himself; and declares His will relative to 
the salvation of men. The words contained 
in it were inspired by the Holy Spirit into the 
minds of faithful men, called Prophets and 
Sekrs, in the Old Testament; and Evangelists 
and Apostles in the New. These all spoke as 
the Spirit gave them utterance. Rev. xxii. 19. 
2 Pet. i. 21. 

XXX. This Bible, or the Scriptures of the 
Old and New Testaments, are the only complete 
guide to everlasting blessedness : men may 
err, but the Scripture cannot ; for it is the 
word of God Himself, who can neither mw- 
take, deceive, nor be deceived. 2 Tim. iii. 
16, 17. 

XXXI. From this word all doctrines must be 
derived and proved ; and from it every man 
must learn his duty to God, to his neighbour ', 
and to himself. Isa. viii. 20. 

XXXII. We have, therefore, three grand 
gifts, for which we should incessantly magnify 
God : — First, His Son, Christ Jesus. Se- 
cond, The influence of His Holy Spirit. And, 
third, His blessed word. 1 John iv« 10. Luke 
xi. 13. John v. 39. 



The Christian Religion. 85 

XXXIII. This Word shows us that God is 
Love : that he hateth nothing that He hath 
made; that He is loving to every man, and is 
not willing that any should perish, but that all 
should come to the knowledge of the truth and 
be saved. J John iv. 16. Psa. cxlv. 9. 

XXXIV. It shows us that Jesus Christ 
tasted death for every man, and that the whole 
human race may believe in Him to the saving 
of their souls. Heb. ii. 9. 1 Tim. ii. €. Ezek. 
xviii 33. xxxiii. 2. 2 Pet. iii. 9. 

XXXV It shows us that God sends His Ho- 
ly Spirit into the hearts and consciences of all 
men, to convince them of sin, righteousness, 
and judgment; and that His light is to be 
found, even where His Word has not yet been 
revealed. John i. 19. xvi. 8, 9, K>, II. Rom. 
ii. 14. 

XXXVI. On this ground the Bible informs 
us, God will judge the Heathen, who have ne- 
ver been favoured with this Divine revelation. 
Those who have acted conscientiously, accord- 
ing to the dictates of this heavenly light in 
their minds, shall not perish eternally; but 
have that measure of glory and happiness 
which is suited to their state; while those who 
have acted contrary to it, shall be separated 
from God and happiness for ever. Rom. ii. 
12. Lukexii. 47, 48. Acts x. 34. 

XXXVII. By this light even the heathens 
are taught the general principles of right and 
wrong; of justice and injustice : not to injure 
each other : to be honest and just in their 



86 The Principles of 

dealings; to abhor murder, cruelty, and op- 
pression; and to be charitable and merciful ac- 
cording to their power. John i. 9. Rom. 
ii. 14. 

XXXVIII. Those who have been favoured 
with Divine revelation shall be judged ac- 
cording to that revelation. They have re- 
ceived much, and from them much shall be re- 
quired; for the Bible assures us that those who 
have the Gospel, and do not obey it, shall be 
punished with an everlasting separation from 
the presence of God, and the glory of His 
power, in that place of misery where their 
worm, the accusation and self-reproaches of 
a guilty conscience, shall never die; and their 
fire, the instrument of their torment, shall ne- 
ver be quenched. — 2 Thess. i. 9. Mark ix. 44. 

XXXIX. Thus we find that God will judge 
the heathen by the law which He has written 
in their minds; and He will judge the Jews 
by the Law which He has given them by Mo- 
ses and the prophets; and He will judge the 
Christians by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, 
which He has given them by the evangelists 
and apostles; and He will judge the Moham- 
medans according to the opportunities they 
have had of knowing the Gospel, and the ob- 
stinacy with which they have rejected it. And 
this will be an aggravation of the punishment 
of the Jews, Mohammedans, and other unbe- 
lievers, that the Gospel which would have 
made them wise unto salvation, has been re- 



The Christian Religion. 87 

jccted by them ; and they continue blasphe- 
mously to deny the Lord that bought them. 

XL. As the Sacred Scriptures were merci- 
fully given to man to promote his present as well 
as his eternal happiness; hence they contain di- 
rections for every state and condition of life : 
on husbands and wives, parents and children, 
masters and servants, they enjoin mutual love, 
affection, obedience, and fidelity. To gover- 
nors and the governed they prescribe their re- 
spective duties; kings and magistrates, as the 
representatives of God, they enjoin to use 
their authority for the protection and comfort 
of the people : the people they command to 
love, honour, obey, and pray for their secu- 
lar rulers; to submit to those laws which are 
formed for the peace, good order, and pros- 
perity of the state; and to hold in abhorrence 
every thing that might tend to disturb the peace 
of the community. In a word, they require 
all men to love their neighbour, every human 
being, as themselves; and in all circumstances 
to do unto others as they would that others 
should do unto them. Matt. vii. 12. Luke x. 
31. Rom. xiii. 1—7. Ephes. v. 21—33. vi. 
1_9. Col. iii. 18. 25. 1 Tim. ii. 1—3. Tit. 
ii. 1—6. iii. 1, 2. 1 Pet. iii. 1—7. v. 1—5. 

XLI. From the foregoing principles we see 
that whatsoever is worthy of the infinite per- 
fections of the One Eternal Being, and what- 
soever is calculated to produce the present 
and everlasting happiness of mankind is taught 



88 The Princ g : -s of 

in the Bible; and that the«e truths have never 
been fully nor clearly taught, and most of them 
not at all, in any system of religion which has 
been adopted by even the wisest of the Heathen 
nations. — That, where this Book of Divine Re- 
velation has been received, there is found the 
greatest portion of wisdom and true greatness; 
and the largest share of political, domestic, and 
personal happiness; and that none in such na- 
tions are wretched, ignorant, or miserable, but 
those who do not obey its dictates. 

XLII. As this religion positively commands 
its professors to love God with all their hearts, 
souls, minds, and strength, and their neighbour, 
any and every human being, as themselves, 
hence it is the duty of all Christian nations and 
people to exert themselves in every possible 
and reasonable way to send this glorious light 
of revelation to all the nations of mankind who 
have not yet received it : and while they con- 
tinue to use that prayer which Jesus Christ 
has mercifully taught them, in which is con- 
tained this petition, Thy kingdom come, they 
should keep a constant eye on the condition of 
the Heathen, and labour to send them that 
Gospel so essential to their peace, their com- 
fort, and their happiness. 

Go ye into all the* world, and preach the 
Gospel to every creature : he that believeth, 
and is baptized, shall be saved; and he that 
believeth not shall be damned. — Mark xvi. 16. 



The Christian Religion. 89 

And I saw an angel fly in the midst of hea- 
ven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach 
to them that dwell on the earth; and to every 
nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people; 
9aying with a loud voice, Fear God, and Give 
glory to Him. — Rev. xiv. 6, 7. 



V 



DIRECTIONS 



FOB PROFITABLY BLADING THE 



WORD OF GOD. 



Having thus laid down at large the princi- 
ples of the Christian religion, and the reasons 
on which they are founded, and given a gene- 
ral view of that Divine revelation from which 
they are extracted, it may be necessary to give 
a few directions to those who seriously ask the 
question, " How may we profit most, and 
grow wise unto salvation, by reading the Sa- 
cred Writings ?" I answer : — 

1 . Deeply consider that it is your duty and 
interest to read the Holy Scriptures. 

2. When you read, consider that it is God's 
word which you read; and that His faithfulness 
is pledged to fulfil both its promises and threat- 
enings. 

3. Read the whole Bible, and read it in or- 
der ; two chapters in the Old Testament, and 
one in the New, daily, if you can possibly 
spare the time ; and you will have more time 
than you are aware of, if you retrench all 



Directions, fyc. 91 

needless visits, and save the hours spent in 
useless or unimportant conversation. 

4* Think that the eye of G©d is upon you 
while you are reading His word : and read and 
hear it with that reverence with which you 
would hear God speak, were He to address 
you as He did the prophets and people of old; 
for be assured, that He considers it as much 
His Word now, as He did when He first 
spoke it. 

5. Remember that the word of God is not 
sent to particular persons , as if by name ; and 
do not think you have no part in it, because 
you are not named there. It is not thus sent : 
it is addressed to particular characters; to 
saints, sinners, the worldly minded, the proud, 
the unclean, the dishonest, the unfaithful, liars, 
sabbath-breakers, the penitent, the tempted, 
the persecuted, the afflicted, &c. &c. 

6. Therefore examine your own state, and 
see to which of these characters you belong, 
and then apply the word spoken to the cha- 
racter in question, to yourself; for it is as 
surely spoken to you as if your name were 
found printed in the Bible, and placed there 
by Divine inspiration itself. 

7. When, in the course of such reading, 
you meet with a threatening, and know from 
your own state that this awful word is spoken 
against you, stop, and implore God, for the 
sake of the sufferings and death of His Son, to 
pardon the sin that exposes you to the punish- 
ment threatened. 



92 Directions for Reading 

8. In like manner, when you meet with a 
promise made to the penitent, tempted, afflict- 
ed, &c. having found out your own case, stop, 
and implore God to fulfil that promise. 

9. Should you find, on self-examination, 
that the threatening has been averted by your 
having turned to God; that the promise has 
been fulfilled, through your faith in Christ ; 
stop here also, and return God thanks for hav- 
ing saved you from such sore evils, and 
brought you into such a glorious state of sal- 
vation. Thus you will constantly find matter 
in reading the Book of God to excite to re- 
pentance, to exercise faith, to produce confi- 
dence and consolation, and to beget gratitude; 
and gratitude will never fail to beget obe- 
dience. He who reads the Bible in this way 
must infallibly profit by it. 

10. It is always useful to read a portion of 
the Scriptures before prayer, whether per- 
formed in the family, or in the closet. In do- 
ing this, mark some particular passages, that 
they may become a subject for your petitions : 
by attending to this, all formality and same- 
ness in this sacred duty will be prevented ; 
and you will have an abundance of materials 
for petitions, supplications, thanksgiving, &c. 
And thus your prayers will never be tedious, 
unsatisfactory, or unedifying, either to your- 
self or to others. 

11. Remember that in reading, you keep 
the eye of your mind steadily fixed upon 
Him, who is the end of the Law* and the sum 



Ihe Word of God. 93 

of the Gospel ; for even the Holy Scriptures 
can make you wise unto Salvation only through 
faith in Christ Jesus. 2 Tim. iii. 15. 

12. Let the Scriptures, therefore, lead you 
to that Holy Spirit by which they were in- 
spired v let that Spirit lead you to Jesus Christ, 
who has ransomed you by His death. And let 
this Christ lead you to the Father, that He 
may adopt you into the family of heaven; and 
thus being taught of Him, justified by His 
blood, and sanctified by His Spirit, }^ou shall 
be saved with all the power of an endless 
life. 

13. As often as you have an opportunity of 
hearing the word of God preached, be sure to 
attend ; for remember, the Holy Scripture 
asserts that " faith cometh by hearing, and 
hearing by the word of God." Rom. x. 17. 
It-is, therefore, your duty and your interest to 
hear that word preached; diligently to attend 
public worship, and attentively hear what God, 
by the mouth of his ministers, shall say unto 
you. The minister is God's messenger, and 
the expositor of His word. They who do 
not attend public worship, show that they have 
little reverence for His name, and little regard 
for their own souls. He who has the oppor- 
tunity, and does not wait upon God in public, 
has little reason to expect that God will de- 
part from His own institutions, to bless him in 
private. " The path of duty is the path of 
safety;" a*d " they who wait upon the Lord, 
ihall renew their strength." ha. xl. 31 . 

8* 



94 Directions for Reading , $c. 

14. All these directions may be summed up 
in that most excellent form of sound words, 
which is used in our church : 

COLLECT FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY 
IN ADVENT. i 

" Blessed Lord, f ho* hast caused all Holy 
" Scriptures to Jbe 1 written for our learning, 
" grant that we may in such wise hear them ; 
" read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them ; 
"that, by patience and comfort of Thy haly 
"word, we may embrace and ever hold fast 
** the blessed hope of everlasting life, which 
" thou hast given us in our Lord Jesus Christ. 
" Amen." 

From all that dwell below the skies, 
Let the Creators praise arise ! * 

Let the Redeemer'' s name be sung 
In every land, by every tongue ! 

Eternal are Thy mercies, Lord : 
Eternal truth attends thy word. 
Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore. 
Till sun shall rise to set no more. 

Praise God from whom all blessings flow, 
Praise Him all creatures here below : 
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host ; 
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Gtost. Amen. 



LlETTER 




THE WORK OF 



MINISTRY ; 



SOME DIRECTIONS TO 
• MAY PROFIT UNQtfR SWPREACHING OF 

' "TORD.OF GOD. 

P * 



m PEOPLE HOW THEY 
fkETPi 



BY ADAM CLARKE. LL. D. 



\ 



FROM THE FOURTH LONDON EDITION, MUCH EN« 
LARO£D AND IMPROVED. 

S^-' -+- * 

Study to shew fnyself approved unto God; a workman that 
needeth HDt^obe ashamed, rightly dividihg the word of 
truth.— 2 Tim. ii. 15. . * 

Be thou an example of the believeraJtfword, in conversa- 
rity, in faith f in purity. — 1 T$rn, iv. 12. ( 



tion, in charity, 



NEW- YORK: 



PUBLISHED BY N. BANGS AND T. MASON, FOtf THE M 
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN TF*" 
UNITED STATES. 




William A. Mercein, Printer. 



t ' 



►1820. 



\^ ^ 



^ 



Ni 



h 






*^ 



i 



y 





ADVERTISEMENT, 



JL HIS Letter, in miniature, was original- 
ly drawn up for the use of a young man in 
London, (Mr. Samuel Woolmer,) who, in 
the year 1797, gave up some flattering 
worldly prospects for the privilege of pro- 
claiming the gospel of the grace of God, as 
an itinerant Wesleyan Methodist Preacher -, 
and who has since that time laboured in his 
Master's vineyard with credit and success. 

"Some judicious friends who saw the plan, 
urged the Author to fill it up, and publish 
it ; as something of that kind was much 
wanted, and was likely to be very useful 
both to the junior Preachers, and to the 
people. Submitting more to their judg- 
ment than his own, the work was accord- 
ingly sent to press, for the first time, in 
1800. It shortly after went through a se- 
cond edition ; and that having been for a 
considerable time out of print, a third edi- 



Advertisement. 

tion has been repeatedly required ; and 
now & fourth. 

In revising his work for another impres- 
sion, many improvements suggested them- 
selves, which were accordingly adopted; 
and several considerable additions have 
been made of subjects not less important 
than those previously introduced, which it 
is .hoped will make the work more gene- 
rally useful. 

Many may be of opinion that the work 
might be still farther enlarged, with great 
advantage to the main subject. Of this the 
Author is sufficiently aware ; but as he in- 
tended no more originally than a Letter, 
and not a laboured dissertation on the 
Christian ministry, or any subject connect- 
ed with it ; he wishes still to keep within 
the reasonable bounds of his original plan. 

Without the Author's knowledge, two 
foreign editions of this Letter have been 
published, one in the sister kingdom, and 
another in America : with what correctness 
the Author knows not, as he has not read 
them. He is glad, however, to find, from 
the general report of his brethren at home* 



Advertisement. 

that this work has not only met with their 
approbation, but has been very generally 
useful : and he hopes that in its present 
improved state it will be still more exten- 
sively so. This is the sole end at which he 
has aimed ; and for the good that has been 
done by it, he cheerfully gives the glory to 
that God from whom all good comes ; and 
to whom alone all praise and thanksgiving 
are due. , 

Millbrook, Jan. 1,1819, 



A LETTER 



A PREACHER, &c. 



My dear Friend, 

YOU are engaged in the most important 
work in the universe. Commissioned by God 
Almighty, you are sent to explain and enforce 
that Mystery which had been hidden from for- 
mer ages ; that glorious scheme of salvation, 
the redemption of a lost world by the incarna- 
tion, sufferings, and death of Jesus Christ. 
Notwithstanding the work is extremely awful 
and difficult, you may nevertheless take en- 
couragement from the honour God has confer- 
red upon you in calling you to it, to go forward 
with pleasure and delight ; and this is requi- 
site, that you may not be too much depressed 
by the trials necessarily attendant on an em- 
ployment which will ever be opposed by the 
wickedness of men, and the malice of demons. 
But, while you take encouragement from the 
above consideration, a proper sense of the 
artfulness of the work, which should ever rest 
9 



102 A Letter to 

upon your mind, will keep you from being 
elated by your honour , as there is such a pos- 
sibility of miscarriage, and such a danger of 
being unfaithful. However, these two consi- 
derations will serve mutually to counterba- 
lance each other, and cause you to rejoice be- 
fore God with trembling. 

As you have, no doubt, deeply considered 
the nature of the work, and counted the cost ; 
and have deliberately chosen your present 
employment, at the certain loss of every 
worldly prospect, and at the hazard of your 
life ; permit one who has learned experience 
on a variety of points connected with si 
Preacher's usefulness, and at no ordinary ex- 
pense either, (having had the pain to be often 
instructed through the medium of his own 
blunders) to give you the following Advices, 

I. Concerning your call to the work of the 
Ministry. 

Your call is not to instruct men in the doc- 
trines and duties of Christianity merely ; but 
to convert them*from sin to holiness. A doc- 
trine can be of little value that does not lead 
to practical effect : and the duties of Chris- 
tianity will be preached in vain to all who have 
not the principle of obedience. That this 
principle is not inherent in any man's nature, 
and must be communicated by God alone, has 
all the proofs that any subject can possibly re- 
quire, or receive. This is, indeed, the basis 



A Preacher, fyc. 103 

on which the necessity and importance ©f the 
Christian System rests : Je>us Christ comes to 
save men, not only from ignorance, by teach- 
ing them the truth ; but to save them from their 
sins ; and this He does by enlightening the 
heart, purging the conscience from dead works, 
and transfusing the principle of righteousness 
and true holiness, which is the only principle 
of obedience. Now, all preaching is vain, 
where these effects are not produced v ; and 
such effects can only be produced by the im- 
mediate agency of God: but He makes the 
faithful preaching of His word the means of 
conveying this agency ; and He will convey it 
by whom He pleases, for He is, and ever will 
be, Sovereign of His own ways. 

It is the prerogative of God both to call and 
qualify a man to be a successful preacher of 
His word. All men are not thus called — 
Among the millions professing Christianity, 
very few are employed in the work of the 
Ministry in the ordinary course of Providence ; 
and still fewer by especial call. 

A regular established ministry of pure Chris- 
tianity, in any country, is an ineffable blessing; 
for by it the form at least of true religion will 
be preserved. Such a ministry God furnishes 
in the regular order of His providence ; and 
its fruits are his ordinary work. But there is 
& power as well as form of godliness ; a soul as 
well as a body of religion ; and to produce this, 
is God's .extraordinary work; and to produce 
it, He not only communicates extraordinary 



194 A Letter to 

influence, but employs extraordinary means. 
In this work, God often "chooses the foolish 
things of the world to confound the wise ; and 
the weak things of the world, to confound the 
things that are mighty ; and the base things of 
the world, and the things that are despised, and 
the things that are not, hath He chosen to 
bring to nought the things that are, that no flesh 
might glory in His presence." 

That there are such dispensations in Provi- 
dence and Grace, the whole history of the 
church proves : and every revival of religion 
is the proof of the dispensation of an extraor- 
dinary influence; for in such outpourings of 
God's Spirit, we ever find extraordinary means 
and instruments used . 

You are either among these ordinary or ex- 
traordinary messengers ; and you ha?e either 
an ordinary or extraordinary call. But as 
you belong not, as a Christian Minister, to any 
established form of religion in the land ; you 
are an extraordinary messenger, or no minis- 
ter at all ; and you have either an extraordi- 
nary call, or you have no call whatever. 

It is a matter of the utmost consequence tp 
be thoroughly satisfied on this point. Ne man 
should engage in the workinwhichyou are enga- 
ged, unless he verily feel, that "he is inwardly 
moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon him this 
office." He must not presume that he is thus 
moved, because he has been educated for the 
ministry: in cases of this kind, man may pro- 
pose, but God must dispose. He may, indeed. 



Ji Preacher, fyc. 105 

be a minister in the ordinary course of God's 
Providence, as has been already stated : and 
God may choose one thus educated, to be an 
extraordinary messenger, to revive His work 
in the earth. Thus was your founder chosen, 
qualified, and sent forth. But what could his 
single arm effect? — God, therefore, gave him 
as helpers, men called and qualified by Him- 
self, to do that extraordinary work so benefi- 
cial not only to Great Britain, but also to a 
great part of the civilized world, and even to 
heathen countries. 

These men all testified that they had an ex- 
traordinary call, to do an extraordinary work, 
by extraordinary assistance. The immense 
multitudes of souls converted from darkness to 
light, and from the power of Satan to God ; 
the general diffusion of scriptural Christianity 
throughout the land, producing love to God 
and man ; due submission to all lawful autho- 
rity, and the most cordial respect to every mo- 
ral precept ; were the proofs that they had 
not mistaken their call, and that God had not 
withheld his extraordinary influence. Per- 
suaded that they had an extraordinary call to 
convert transgressors, to lead them to Christ 
Jesus that they might be justified by faith in 
bis blood, and afterwards to build them up or 
their most holy faith, they constantly depended 
on God, sought and expected from him extra- 
ordinary assistance, and thus lived in the con- 
stant exercise of the Spirit of faith, piety, and 
prayer. You will copy their example, and be 
9* 



106 A Letter to 

owned of God as they were owned, if you walk 
by the same rule, and mind the same thing. 

I hold this to be a matter of prime import- 
ance : for long experience has shown me, that 
he among us, who is not convinced that he has 
an extraordinary call to the ministry, will ne- 
ver seek for extraordinary help, will sink un- 
der discouragement and persecutions, and con- 
sequently, far from being a light of the world, 
will be as salt without savour ; and, in our 
connexion, a slothful if not a wicked servant, 
who should be cast out of the sacred fold, as 
an encumberer of the inheritance of the Lord. 

II. Concerning the Spirit in which you should 
do your Wurk. 

I. In what are called the Larger Minutes , 
which contain the doctrine and discipline of 
the Methodist Societies, and in which the wis- 
dom and experience of your predecessors in 
the ministry are condensed, you will find many 
excellent rules and directions, not only rela- 
tive to the spirit, but also to the manner, in 
which you should perform the work to which 
you are called. I shall make but a few ex- 
tracts from this pamphlet, because I wish you 
to read it all carefully over, and to become 
master of every part of the subject. The 
twelve ruh$ of a helper^ i. e. a Preacher just 
taken upon trial, have so much goed sense, as 
well as piety, to recommend tkem, that I shall 



A Preacher, fyc. 107 

beg, in this place, to press them on your atten- 
tion. They are the following : 

1. "Be diligent; — never be unemployed a 
moment : — never be triflingly employed : — 
never while away time : neither spend any 
more time at any place than is strictly neces- 
sary. 

2. " Be serious. Let your motto be Holi- 
ness to the Lord. Avoid all lightness, jesting, 
and foolish talking. 

3. "Converse sparingly and cautiously with 
women ; particularly young women. 

4. " Take no step towards marriage, with- 
out consulting with your brethren. 

5. Believe evil of no one ; unless you see 
it done, take heed how you credit it. Put the 
best construction on every thing. You know, 
the judge is always supposed to be on the prison- 
er's side. 

6. " Speak evil of no one : else your words 
especially, would eat as doth a canker : keep 
your thoughts within your breast, till you come 
to the person concerned. 

7. " Tell every one what you think wrong 
in him, and that plainly, as soon as may be, 
else it will fester in your heart. 

8. " Do not affect the gentleman. You have 
no more to do with this character, than with 
that of a dancing-master. A Preacher of the 
gospel should be the servant of all. 

9. " Be ashamed of nothing but sin: not of 
fetching wood or drawing water, if time per- 



108 A Letter to 

mit : nor of cleaning your own shoes, nor those 
of your neighbour. 

10 " Be punctual: do every thing exactly at 
the time : and keep our rules, not for wrath, 
but for conscience sake. 

11. "You have nothing to do but to save 
souls: therefore, spend and be spent in this 
work : and go always, not only to those who 
want you, but to those who want you most. 

12. " It is not your business to preach so 
many times, merely, or to take care of this 
or that society; but to save as many souls as you 
can : to bring as many sinners as you possibly 
can to repentance, and with all your power to 
build them up in that holiness, without which 
they cannot see the Lord." 

I have only one remark to make on these 
rules; and it shall be on the word gentleman, 
in the 8th article, which 1 am afraid may be 
misunderstood. Whether we have borrowed 
the term from the French gentilhomme, or the 
Latin homo gentilis, or compounded it from the 
Latin gentilis, and the Saxon man, is a mat- 
ter of little consequence. The French de- 
fine it, " celui qui est noble de race :" he who 
comes from a noble stock or lineage. The 
Romans define gentlemen thus : " qui inter se 
codem sunt nomine ab ingenuis oriundi, quorum 
majorum nemo servitutem servivit; et qui ca- 
pite diminuti non sunt:" Those who have a 
certain family name ; are born of freemen, 
whose ancestors were never in servitude, and 
who have never been degraded from tbeir 
kindred or ancient stock- 



A Preacher, &rc. 109 

The common acceptation of the term is, "a 
man of large fortune, who lives independent 
of all others; and who not only serves no man, 
hut is above serving himself." Properly, it sig- 
nifies " a man of an ancient respectable family, 
in possession of an entailed descending landed 
property; who is affable and obliging in his 
manners, and benevolent in his conduct :" and 
by courtesy it is given to every " well-bred, 
genteel, and well-behaved man," whether he 
be sprung from an ancient respectable family, 
and have landed property, or not. 

Now Mr. Wesley does not say, Do not act 
like a gentleman ; this he did himself; and this 
he recommended, as well by precept as ex- 
ample : but he says, " Do not affect the gen- 
tleman ; do not pretend to be what you are 
not — to be nobly descended, when you are 
not — nor be above serving yourself or others, 
even in the meanest offices of life. He who 
is well-bred, decent, gentle, and obliging in all 
his conduct, is a gentleman; he who affects this 
character is none, no more than a monkey is a 
man. 

He who boasts of his ancestry, talks of his 
mighty sacrifices, and insinuates that he has 
descended from much dignity, respectability, 
ease, and affluence, in order to become a Me- 
thodist preacher, is the character of which 
Mr. W. speaks. Such a one affects the gentle- 
man, wishes to be thought so by others, may 
be thought so by persons as empty as himself; 
but, in the sight of every man of good com- 



110 A Letter to 

mon sense, is a vain, conceited, empty ass; 
is unworthy of the ministry, should he cast out 
of the vineyard, and hooted from society. — 
You will not copy such a character as this. 

These rules, next to the Scriptures, will 
prove a lamp to your feet, and a light to your 
path : and will at once recommend themselves 
to your judgment, your conscience, and your 
heart. 

From what are termed the u smaller ad- 
vices relative to preaching,'' I shall make a 
short extract, though several of the subjects 
here shall be treated more at large, in the 
course of this letter. 

1. "Be sure never to disappoint a con* 
gregation, unless in case of life or death. 

2. " Begin and end precisely at the time 
appointed. 

3. " Let your deportment before the con- 
gregation be serious, weighty, and solemn. 

4. " Always suit your subject to your au- 
dience. 

5. " Choose the plainest texts you can. 

6. " Take care not to ramble, but keep to 
your text, and make out what you take in 
hand. 

7. " Be sparing in allegorizing, or spiri- 
tualizing. 

8. " Take care of any thing awkward or 
affected either in your gesture, phrase, or 
pronunciation. 

9. " Sing no hymns of your own com- 
posing." 



A Preacher, fyc. Ill 

On this advice I beg leave to make one 
remark. Very few persons, however accre- 
dited they may be as authors, are allowed to 
quote themselves in the pulpit : — and for a 
man who is not a first rate poet, to give out 
a hymn of his own composing, in such a 
place, must, to every intelligent person, sa- 
vour of deep ignorance, and almost incura- 
ble vanity : — I say, unless he be a first rate poet, 
such as Dr. Watts or Mr. Wesley, which may be 
the case with one in every ten or twelve millions 
of men. The odds, therefore, are so much 
against you and me, and perhaps most of our 
brethren, that the attempt to stand candidate 
for so large a portion of fame would be ab- 
surd. I might add to this, Sing no music of 
your own composing; it may be as excep- 
tionable as your poetry : and from the pecu- 
liar difficulty of musical composition, it is a 
thousand to one it may be worse. Every 
man should be cautious how he exposes him- 
self in public. But to return to the smaller 
advices. 

10. " Beware of clorvnishness. Be cour- 
teous to all. 

11. " Be merciful to your beast ; not only 
ride moderately, but see that your horse be 
rubbed, fed, and bedded. 

12. " Every where recommend cleanliness, 
Cleanliness is next to godliness." 

From these excellent documents, I forbear 
to make any farther quotations, and come im- 
mediately to the general object which 1 had m 



112 A Letter to 

view; and to which, I trust, you will, in the 
fear of God, seriously attend. 

Remember, God is the Fountain of all good; 
whatever comes from Him will lead to Him, 
His blessing is on His own productions, and 
His curse on every thing besides. Son of man , 
saith the Lord, receive the word at my mouth, 
and warn them from me. Deeply consider 
that, to be successful in bringing souls to God, 
you must bring the spirit of the gospel into the 
work of the ministry. — In order to this, see 
that you retain a clear sense of God's mercy 
to your own soul, and of your call to the work; 
and while you feel His love in your heart, it 
will not only support you in all trials and diffi- 
culties, but will induce you cheerfully to spend 
and be spent for the salvation of those for 
whom Christ has died. 

2. You preach, not merely to explain God's 
word, but to save souls : whenever you forget 
this, you go astray. — Now, as no man can see 
the worth of the salvation which God has pro- 
vided for him, till he be convinced of his want 
of it; therefore, preach the Law and its ter- 
rors to make way for the Gospel of Christ cru- 
cified. But take heed, lest while you an- 
nounce the terrors of the Lord, in order to 
awaken sinners and prepare them for Christ, 
that you do not give way to your own spirit, 
especially if you meet with opposition. Re- 
member that admirable advice, given by the 
greatest preacher God ever made, to a young 
man just setting out in the work : " The ser- 



A Preacher, &c. 113 

vant of God must not strive, but be gentle to- 
wards all ; apt to teach ; patient : in meekness 
instructing those who oppose themselves." 2 
Tim. ii. 24, 25. From an indescribable law 
in the economy of the intellectual world, the 
spirit that acts upon another, begets in it its own 
likeness. — You will get a profusion of light on 
this subject, if you take care to carry the Spi- 
rit and unction of Christ with you into all your 
public ministrations ; and preserve them in all 
your private communications with the people. 
I have known ministers, and of no mean note 
either, who seldom have a soul comforted un- 
der their ministry, merely because of their 
harsh, austere manner of preaching the gos- 
pel. Others, far their inferiors in point of mi- 
nisterial qualifications, get souls for their hire 
wherever they come, principally (under God) 
through their affectionate manner of recom- 
mending the gospel of the grace of Christ. — 
Of the former it has been justly said, They 
make even the promises of God too hot to be held. 
3. Beware of discouraging the people; there- 
fore, avoid continually finding fault with them. 
This does very great hurt. There are some, 
whose sermons impress nothing but terror : 
and though they point out the heights and 
depths of holiness ; yet they leave the hear- 
ers no courage to follow on to know the Lord. 
There are others who become Censors general 
of the different societies to whom they preach. 
This (imperceptibly to themselves) spoils 
their own tempers, begets a spirit of unchari- 
10 



1 14 Jl Letter to 

tableness, and greatly injures their usefulness* 
If you find a society fallen or falling, examine 
as closely as you can to find out all the good 
that is among them ; and, copying Christ's con- 
duct towards the seven Asiatic churches, pre- 
face all that you have to say on the head of 
their backsliding, with the good that remains 
in them ; and make that good which they still 
possess, the reason why they should shake 
themselves from the dust, take courage, and 
earnestly strive for more. If you ground your 
exhortations to increasing diligence and zeal 
on what they have lost, instead of on what they 
yet possess, and may speedily gain, you miss 
your way, and lose your labour. I tried the 
former way, and did no good : I abandoned it 3 
and adopted the latter, and God blessed it. — 
Mr. Wesley used to give the significant appel- 
lation of Croakers, to those who were always 
telling the people, " Ye are fallen ! ye are 
fallen !" and he observed that such injured the 
work of God wherever they came. I have in 
general found, that those who are most fre- 
quent in the above cry, are such as have suf- 
fered loss in their own souls ; and taking si 
prospect of what is without, from a retrospect of 
what is within, they imagine that all they see 
are in the same apostate condition with them- 
selves. 

4. Man is naturally prone to act in extremes : 
therefore, take good heed that while you avoid 
the above evil, you fall not into that other of 
slightly passing by the transgressions of the 



A Preacher i fyc. 115 

wicked, or the backslidings of the people of 
God. Cases may occur, that will require pub- 
lic and cutting reproof: but, as I hinted be- 
fore, in all such cases copy the example of our 
blessed Lord to the seven Asiatic churches.*— 
There you have an infallible directory. May 
God help you to follow it ! 

5. On this head I will venture to give you 
another piece of advice, to which you will se- 
riously attend, if you regard your own peace, 
and the good of the people. 

Avoid the error of those who are continual- 
ly finding fault with their congregations be- 
cause more do not attend. This is both im- 
prudent, and unjust. — Imprudent, for as people 
do not like to be forced in what should be a/ree- 
will-offering; so they are infallibly disgusted 
with those who attempt it : unjust, it being con- 
trary both to reason and equity, to scold those 
who come, because others do not attend. I 
have known this conduct scatter a congrega- 
tion, but I never knew it gather one. Indeed, 
it savours too much of pride and self-love. It 
seems to say, " Why do you not come to hear 
ME ? Am I not a most excellent Preacher ? 
What a reproach is it to your understanding 
that you keep away when / am here 1" — Bring 
Christ with yon, and preach His truth in the 
love thereof, and you will never be without a 
congregation, if God have any work for you to 
do in that place. 



116 A Letter to 



III. Concerning the Choice of Texts. 

1. Never take a text which you do not fully 
understand ; and make it a point of conscience 
to give the literal meaning of it to the people. 
This is a matter of great and solemn impor- 
tance. To give God's words a different mean- 
ing to what He intended to convey by them, or 
to put a construction upon them which we have 
not the fullest proof He has intended, is awful 
indeed ! Any person who is but even a little 
acquainted with spiritual things, may give a 
spiritual interpretation (according to his own 
opinion) to any text : but it is not every per- 
son that can give the literal sense. The spi- 
ritual meaning must ever be drawn from the 
literal ; and indeed when the first is well 
known, the latter, which is its use and appli- 
cation, will naturally spring from it : but, with- 
out all controversy, the literal meaning is that 
which God would have first understood. By 
not attending to this, heresies, false doctrines, 
and errors of all kinds, have been propagated 
and multiplied in the world. 

2 Remember you are called, not only to 
explain the things of God ; but also the words 
of God. The meaning of the thing is found in 
the word: and if the word which comprises 
the original idea, be not properly understood, 
the meaning of the thins; can never be defined ; 
and on this ground the edification of the peo- 
ple is impossible. We often take it for grant- 



A Preacher, fyc. 117 

ed, that the words which are in common use 
are well known, especially when we under- 
stand them ourselves : but this is a very 
false opinion, and has bad consequences ; for 
elementary matters being not well known ; it 
is no wonder if the intellectual improvement 
of the people do not keep pace with our la- 
bours. No man can read a language, the al- 
phabet of which he has never learned. Every 
mathematician feels it a matter of imperious 
necessity to define all the terms he uses in his 
demonstrations. 

3 Never appear to contradict the Holy Spi- 
rit by what is called treating a subject nega- 
tively and positively. I shall waive all stric- 
tures on the barbarism of " showing negative- 
ly what a thing is not ;" and will only beg leave 
to state, that the following instances of this in- 
judicious and dangerous mode of handling the 
word of God have fallen within the compass of 
my own observation. 

A Preacher took for his text, Isa. xxviii. 16. 
He that believeth shall not make haste. On this 
he preached two sermons. His division was 
as follows : " I shall first prove that he who 
believeth shall make haste; and, secondly, 
show in what sense he that believeth shall not 
make haste" On the first, which was a flat 
contradiction of the text, he spent more than 
an hour : and the congregation were obliged to 
wait a whole month, before he could come 
back to inform them that, he who believeth 
shall not make haste. I would not be thought 
10* 



118 A Letter to 

% 

to insinuate, that the first sermon was not sound 
doctrine and good sense, as to its matter ; but 
1 say it was injudicious. — And, besides, it was 
absurd to found his work upon a text, the 
very letter of which it contradicted in the most 
palpable manner. 

Another, a citizen of no mean city, not a 
thousand miles from the place where 1 write, 
took his text from Psa. xxxiv. i 9. Many are the 
afflictions of the righteous, but God deliver eth him 
out of them all. His division was as follows : 
" In handling this text I shall first prove, that 
there is none righteous. Secondly, That the 
afflictions of the righteous are many : and, 
Thirdly, That the Lord delivereth him out of 
them all." The honest man's meaning and 
design were undoubtedly good : — but who 
could hear his division without trembling for 
himself and his text! 

Another took Luke xii. 32. Fear not, little 
flock ; for it is your Fathers good pleasure to 
give you the kingdom. In opposition to the let- 
ter of his text, the Preacher laboured to prove, 
that the flock of Christ is not a little, but a 
very large flock : and in order to do this, 
brought in multitudes of pious heathens, vast 
numbers who sought and found mercy in their 
last hour, together with myriads of infants, 
idiots, &c. 

Who does not see, that in each of the above 
cases, ignorance of, or inattention to, the lite- 
ral meaning of the text, was the grand cause 
of this absurdity and contradiction ? Choose, 



A Preacher, <$•<:. 



h 



therefore, such texts as you understand ; and, 
after having conscientiously given the literal 
interpretation, improve the whole in the best 
manner you can to the edification of your 
hearers. 

4. Seldom take a very short text; because a 
short one may not afford you sufficient matter 
to entertain and instruct your congregation. 
There are not many to be found who have the 
ability to use a few words of Scripture, as Ad- 
dison and Steele did the Greek and Latin mot- 
tos of their Spectators : and those who have 
the ability, should not use it in this way, for 
this plain reason ; that in preaching, God 
should be heard more than man. But where 
imagination and invention are put to the rack 
to supply the place of the words of God, the 
hearers may admire the address of the Preach- 
er, but are not likely to be fed with the bread 
©f life.— In such cases man speaks most, God 
least. Such preaching must leave the people 
ignorant of the Scriptures. With many at pre- 
sent, preaching is become more of a human 
art, than of a Divine science ; and when this is 
considered, we need not wonder that the pul- 
pit is so often employed, without becoming the 
mean of salvation to them that hear. 

5. Never take a text which out of its pro- 
per connexion can mean nothing. — I travelled 
once with two Preachers who trifled the whole 
year in this way. Their texts were conti- 
nually such as these. Adam, where art thou? — 
I have somewhat to say unto thee. — If thou wilt 



120 A Letter to 

deal justly and truly with my master , tell me. — 
I have put off my coat, how shall I put it on? — 
Thy mouth is most sweet, fyc. I need not add, 
that these solemn triflers did the people no 
good; and it will not surprise you to hear that 
they are both, long since, fallen away. Such 
texts as the foregoing may be preached from 
without any study; for two reasons : first, Be- 
cause they are not subjects for study, and 
should not be studied; and, secondly, Because 
the person who takes such, speaks on them 
whatever comes uppermost, as one explanation 
will suit them just as well as another : for, ta- 
ken out of their proper connexion they mean — 
nothing. Beware of this, and never do vio- 
lence to the word of God, by taking a text 
out of the connexion in which His Spirit has 
placed it. Let God speak for Himself, and 
His words will bear convincing testimony to 
their own excellence. 

6. It might be very proper to say something 
here concerning the abuse of Scripture, by 
what is termed Allegorical Preaching ; but as 
the good sense both of preachers and people 
has nearly banished this deceitful handling of 
the word of God from the nation, observations 
on this head are rendered comparatively un- 
necessary. Yet the custom still lives, though 
it does not prevail. A very great man, and 
one of the most learned of his day, Origen, 
was the father of this most thriftless and un- 
edifying art. His learning and reputation have 
gained it a sort of credit in the world with 



A Preacher, fyc. 121 

superficial people; though every scholar knows 
that Origin himself, far from deriving any cre- 
dit from it, was degraded by the unsubstan- 
tial craft, which, with the wisest and best 
men, ranks among the sullenly departing shades 
of the whole herd of " unreal mockeries. " 
Mr. Benjamin Reach's work on Scripture Me- 
taphors, has done more to debase the taste 
both of preachers and people, than any other 
work of the kind. Fortunately, some years 
ago, a large edition of this work was print- 
ed : it got thereby into the hands of many 
private individuals. Many preachers in making 
a liberal use of it in the pulpit, were, ac- 
cording to the popular phrase, " found out ;" 
this has made them cautious, and Reach on 
Scripture Metaphors is now in less repute 
than formerly. Two instances of this find- 
ing out, came within my own knowledge. — 
Mr. Wm. C. was eminent for explaining Scrip- 
ture Metaphors and Allegories ; the people 
admired his deep knowledge and ability ;— in 
one of the principal congregations where he 
frequently preached, a gentleman luckily had 
in his library Reach's Scripture Metaphors, 
and found that it was from this publication 
that Mr. Ym. C. derived all his excellencies — 
he spoke of this publicly ; and an unlucky 
person giving the name of Billy Reach to the 
preacher, spoiled his popularity. t 

Another, having taken his text, said, " I 
shall divide this into twenty-one heads;" and 
so saying, he produced them all in detail.— 



122 A Letter to 

A gentleman in the congregation said, " When 
I return home I shall examine Reach on the 
Metaphors, and see whether you have missed 
any.'' He did sc, and found that he could 
speak more for the fidelity of the preacher's 
memory, than he could for the honesty of 
his heart; as in this respect he had most ser- 
vilely and disingenuously stolen the word from 
his neighbour. Let these accounts not only 
deter you, but all that may read them, from 
a conduct as disgraceful in a literary as in a 
moral point of view; and which, in the end, 
must involve its author in shame and highly 
merited reproach. 

Independently of all this, the principle is 
bad : it is degrading to the dignified doctrines 
of the gospel to be treated in a way by which 
no rational conviction was ever produced ; 
and by which no truth was ever proved. 

Even Metaphors and Parables prove no- 
thing : they only illustrate ; and are never 
allowed to be produced in support of any 
doctrine. This is a maxim in Theology to 
which all polemic Divines are obliged to bow. 
Theologica symbolica non est argumentativa . 
Similia ad pompam, non ad pugnam : illustrant, 
at nihil probant. Added to all this, what is call- 
ed Allegorical Preaching, debases the taste, 
and fetters the understanding, both of Preach- 
er and hearers. 

7. But there is another species of Preach- 
ing against which I would most solemnly guard 
you, viz. what is termed fine or flowery 



A Preacher, &c. 123 

preaching, I do not mean preaching in 
elegant, correct, and dignified language; as 
every thing of this kind is quite in place, when 
employed in proclaiming and illustrating the 
records of our salvation ; but I mean a spu- 
rious birth, which endeavours to honour itself 
by this title. Some Preachers think they 
greatly improve their own discourses, by bor- 
rowing the fine sayings of others ; and when 
these are frequently brought forward in the 
course of a sermon, the Preacher is said to be 
a flowery Preacher. Such flowers, used in 
such away, bring to my remembrance the cus- 
tom in some countries of putting full blown 
roses, or sprigs of rosemary, lavender, and 
thyme in the hands of the dead, when they 
are put in their coffins. And may I be per- 
mitted to say, that the unnatural association of 
words and sentences in a fine dignified style, 
with the general tenor of a discourse which is 
often of a widely different character, is to me 
as ridiculous and absurd as the union of a cart- 
wheel, with elegant clock-work. 

But the principal fault in this kind of Preach- 
ing is the using a vast number of words long 
and high-sounding, to which the Preacher him- 
self appears to have affixed no specific ideas, 
and which are often foreign, in the connexion 
in which he places them, to the meaning which 
they radically convey. 

Such Preachers are remarkable for the mul- 
titude of words of a similar meaning, which 
they often heap together. Their substantives 



124 A Letter to 

are lost in the overbearing crowd of adjectives 
brought to explain them : and the case is not 
rare, where two or three of these epithets 
mean precisely the same thing ; only, unlucki- 
ly for the person who uses them, one happens 
to be derived from the Latin or Greek, another 
from the French, and the third, the only one 
he appears to understand, comes from his mo- 
ther's tongue ; and perhaps the most proper 
on the occasion. Words used in such a way, 
either lose all meaning, or, like equal antago- 
nist forces, destroy one another. Thus, " they 
draw out the thread of their verbosity finer 
than the staple of their argument V They are 
precisely such as a good woman used, who 
having completed a task of spinning, for a part 
of which she had been previously paid, re- 
turned to her employer, who was himself a 
correct and elegant speaker, with a speech 
which she thought would please him, and in 
which she was, no doubt, greatly helped by 
her benevolent neighbours : " Sir, I have 
brought back the rest, of the residue, of the 
remaining part of the work you gave me to 
spin." The simplicity and ignorance of the 
poor woman, became a subject of innocent 
merriment ; but a Preacher who speaks 
thus, will not so easily escape : his affectation 
and pedantry will, among sensible m£n; be- 
come the subjects of the most caustic ani- 
madversion. 



A Preacher, fyc. 125 



IV. Concerning your Behaviour in the Pulpit, 
and mode of conducting the Public Service. 

1 . Go from your knees to the chapel. Get 
a renewal of your commission every time you 
go to preach, in a renewed sense of the favour 
of God. Carry your authority to declare the 
gospel of Christ, not in your hand, but in your 
heart. When in the pulpit, be always solemn: 
say nothing to make your congregation laugh. 

.Remember you are speaking for eternity ; and 
trifling is inconsistent with such awful subjects 
as the great God, the agony and death of 
Christ, the torments of hell, and the blessed- 
ness of heaven. 

2. Never assume an air of importance, 
while in the pulpit ; you stand in an awful 
place, and God hates the proud man. Never 
be boisterous or dogmatical. Let your de- 
meanour prove that you feel that you are speak- 
ing before Him who tries the spirit ; and to 
whom you are responsible for every word you 
utter. Self-confidence will soon lead to a for- 
getfulness of the presence of God ; and then 
you speak your own words, and perhaps in 
your own spirit too. 

3. Avoid all quaint and fantastic attitudes. 
I once knew a young man who, through a bad 
habit which he had unfortunately acquired, 
made so many antics, as the people termed 
them, in the pulpit, as to prejudice and grieve 
jnany . A very serious and sensible person who 

11 



126 A Letter to 

constantly heard him, really thought he was 
afflicted with that species of paralysis termed 
St. Vitus' 1 s Dance: and hearing some blame 
him, entered seriously on his defence, on the 
ground of its being the visitation of God ! As 
there are a thousand reasons why a young man 
should not wish the people to form such an opi- 
nion of him, so there i3 all the reason in the 
world why he should avoid queer nodding, ri- 
diculous stoopings and erections of his body, 
skipping from side to side of the desk, knitting 
his brows ; and every other theatrical or fop- 
pish air, which tends to disgrace the pulpit, 
and to render himself contemptible. 

4. Never shake or flourish your handker- 
chief ; this is abominable ; nor stuff it into your 
bosom ; this is unseemly. Do not gaze about 
on your congregation, before you begin your 
work : if you take a view of them at all, let it 
be as transient as possible. 

5. Endeavour to gain the attention of your 
congregation. Remind them of the presence 
•f God. Get their spirits deeply impressed 
with this truth, Thou,God,seestme! and assure 
them, " He is in the midst, not to judge, but to 
bless them ; and that they should Wait as 
for eternity, for now is the day of salvation." 
I have ever found that a few words of this kind 
spoken before the sermon, have done very 
^reat good. 

6. The pulpit appears to me analogous to 
the box in which the witnesses are sworn in a 
court of justice, " To say the truth, the 
whole truth, and nothing but the truth." — You 



A Preacher, &c. 127 

are a witness for God ; and are bound by more, 
if possible, than an oath, to speak the truth 
in righteousness and love ; and to declare faith- 
fully and solemnly, according to the best of 
your knowledge, the whole counsel of God. 

7. Give out the page, and measure of the 
hymn, and the hymn itself distinctly, and with 
a full voice ; always giving the singers time 
sufficient to set a suitable tune ; and do not 
hold the book before your face while giving 
out the hymn, for this hinders the progress of 
the. sound. 

8. While praying, keep your eyes closed : 
at such a time you have nothing to do with out- 
ward objects ; the most important matters are 
at issue between God and you ; and he is to be 
contemplated with the eye of the mind. I 
cannot conceive how it is possible for a man to 
have the spirit of devotion in prayer, while 
he is engaged in gazing about, on his congre- 
gation. Such an one may say his prayers, but 
he certainly cannot pray them. 

If jou wish the people to join with you in 
this part of the worship, speak so as to be 
heard, even at the beginning: whispering peti- 
tions to God, may be genteel for aught I know ; 
but! am certain it is not to the use oi edification. 
In yeur prayers avoid long prefaces and cir- 
cumlocutions : — You find none of these in the 
Bible. Some have got a method of com- 
plimenting the Most High on the dignity of His 
nature, and the glory of His heavens : this you 
should studiously avoid. He that cometh to 



128 A Letter to 

God must know that he is : and a proper con- 
sideration of His Being, Power, Holiness, and 
Mercy, cannot fail deeply to impress your 
mind, and lead you at once even to His seat. 
You should never come into the congregation 
but in the spirit of prayer. Let your mind be 
wound up into that spirit in your closet : and 
then, in your prayers in the congregation, you 
will appear what you should be, a man fami- 
liar 'with God. Examine the Scriptures, and 
you will find that all the holy men of God 
prayed in this way : they came directly to the 
Throne, and preferred their suit. Ever con- 
sidering themselves in the presence of God, the 
very commencement of their supplications 
seems no other than an external continuance of 
prayers in which their hearts had been long 
previously engaged. 

9. Say the Lord's prayer in the same tone 
and elevation of voice in which you said your 
own. I have observed many, when they came 
to this solemn form, suddenly dropping their 
voice, and repeating it as if it made no part 
of their devotion. Is this treating the institu- 
tion of Christ with becoming reverence ? 

10. If you read the Liturgy of the Church,* 
and this should be done in every large congre- 
gation on the morning of the Lord's day, read 
it with a full and solemn voice — Hurry no- 
thing — Whisper nothing. Many are preju- 
diced against this most comprehensive, import- 
ant, and impressive service, because it is ge- 
nerally ill read. Do it justice ; get into the 

* See the Note, p. 138. 



A Preacher, §-c. 129 

spirit it breathes; and both you and your con- 
gregation will soon find, that it is no dry, for- 
mal service — no lip labour. As a form of de- 
votion it has no equal in any part of the uni- 
versal Church of God. It is founded on those 
doctrines, which contain the sum and essence 
of Christianity; and speaks the language of the 
sublimest piety, and of the most refined devo- 
tional feeling, Next to the Bible, it is the 
book of my understanding, and of my heart. 

11. Read your text distinctly, and begin to 
speak about the middle of your voice, not 
only that you may be readily heard, but that 
you may rise and fall as occasion may require, 
which you cannot do if you begin either too 
high or too low. Never drop your voice at 
the end of a sentence ; this is barbarous and 
intolerable. In a multitude of cases, where 
the last word is not heard, the whole sentence 
is lost. Every sentence you speak should tend 
to edification; and it cannot edify, unless it 
can be heard : therefore, never begin too low ; 
this is a greater evil than even screaming 
itself. 

12. Be sure to have the matter of your text 
well arranged in your own mind before you 
come into the pulpit, that you may not be con- 
fused while speaking. But beware of too much 
dividing and subdividing : by these means the 
word of God has been made to speak some- 
thing, any thing, or nothing, according to the 
creed or prejudices of the Preacher. How 
little of this division work do you meet with 

ii* 



130 A Letter to 

in the discourses of the Prophets, the sermons 
of Christ, or the preachings of the Apostles 
Besides, this mode of preaching w hackneyed 
to death; and can never succeed but in judi- 
cious hands. Unless the matter of the text be 
abundant, it rather fetters than enlarges the 
mind ; and that which is ominously called the 
skeleton, i. e. a system of mere bones; is in ge- 
neral but ill clothed with muscles, worse s rung 
with nerves, and often without the : breath ei- 
ther of a spiritual or intellectual life. By this 
mode of preaching, the word of God is not 
explained; from it, scarcely any thing can be 
learned but the Preacher's creed, and his in- 
genuity to press a text into its service. His 
divisions and subdivisions explain his own mind 
and views; but they generally leave the Text 
and Context as they were before. No Con- 
gregation can grow in the knowledge oj the 
Scriptures by such teaching as this. On this 
subject, a man of deep sense and piety once 
observed ; « The major part of what we hear 
at present in sermons is, Three heads, and a 
conclusion." , 

13. In whatever way you handle your text, 
take care, when you have exhausted the mat- 
ter of it, not to go over it again. Apply every 
thing of imnortance as you go along; and when 
you have done, learn to make an e»d. It is 
not essential to a sermon, that it be half an 
hour, or an hour long. Some preach more in 
ten minutes than others do in sixty. At any 
rate, the length of time spent in preaching, 
can never compensate for the want ol matter ; 



A Preacher , fyc. 131 

and the evil is doubled when a man brings forth 
little, and is long about it. There are some 
who sing long hymns, and pray long prayers, 
merely to fill up the time ; this is a shocking 
profanation of these sacred ordinances, and 
ha? the most direct tendency to bring them into 
contempt. If they are of no more importance 
to the Preacher or his work, than merely to 
Jill up the time ; the people act wisely, who 
stay at home and mind their business till the 
time in which the sermon commences. Have 
you never heard the following observation ? 
" You need not be in such haste to go to the 
chapel ; you will be time enough to hear the 
sermon, for Mr. X. Y. always sings a long 
hymn, and makes a long prayer." Therefore, 
never sing long hymns, pray long prayers, nor 
preach long sermons — these last are intolera- 
ble, unless there be a great variety of interest- 
ing matter in them, accompanied with great 
animation. I have often preached only ten or 
fifteen minutes at a time. Why ? Because I 
had no more to say on that subject, and I did 
not think that what I had already uttered was 
of consequence enough to entitle it, then and 
there, to a second hearing. 

14. As to the matter of your preaching, I 
will only say, preach Jesus, preach His atone- 
ment, preach the love that caused Him to die 
for the redemption of a lost world; and through 
Him, proclaim a free, full, and present salva- 
tion, provided for every human soul ; and 
God will bless your labours wherever you go. 



132 A Letter to 

15. You may easily find many treatises writ- 
ten on the Gift of Preaching, the Eloquence 
of the Pulpit, the Composition of a Sermon, 
&c. &c. both in our own language, and in fo- 
reign tongues; and he who has a good judg- 
ment may profit by them. But I must con- 
fess, all I have ever read on the subject has 
never conveyed so much information to my 
mind on the original, and, in my opinion, only 
proper mode of preaching, as Neh. c. viii. 
v. 8. " So they read in the book, in the law of 
God, distinctly; and gave the sense, and caused 
them to understand the reading." A few mo- 
ments spent in considering this subject will 
not be lost. 

The Israelites having been lately brought 
out of the Babylonish captivity, in which they 
had continued 70 years, according to the pre- 
diction of Jeremiah, c. xxv. 11. were not only 
extremely corrupt, but it appears they had, in 
general, lost the knowledge of the ancient 
Hebrew to such a degree, that when the book 
of the law was read, they did not understand 
it : but certain Levites stood by and gave the 
sense, i. e. translated it into the Chaldee dia- 
lect. — This was not only the origin of the 
Chaldee Targums, or translation of the law 
and prophets into that tongue; but was also, in 
all probability, the origin of preaching from a 
text: for it appears, that the people were not 
only ignorant of their ancient language, but 
also of the rites and ceremonies of their reli- 
gion, having been so long in Babylon, where 



Jl Preacher, $c. 133 

they were not permitted to observe them.— . 
This being the case, not only the language 
must be interpreted, but the meaning of the 
rites and ceremonies must also be explained ; 
for we find from Neh. c. viii. v. 13, &c. that 
they had even forgotten the feast of Taberna- 
cles, and every thing relative to that cere- 
mony. 

As we no where find that what is called 
preaching on, or expounding a text, was ever 
in use before that period, we may thank the 
Babylonish captivity for producing, in the hand 
of Divine Providence, a custom the most ex- 
cellent and beneficial ever introduced among 
men. 

What the nature of preaching was at this 
early period of its institution, we learn from 
the above cited text 

First. They read in the book of the law of God. 
The words of God are the proper matter of 
preaching, for they contain the wisdom of the 
Most High, and reveal to man the things which 
make for his peace. 

Secondly, They read distinctly; BnADWi* pho- 
rash, from cne parash, to expand; they ana- 
lyzed, dilated, and expounded it at large. 

Thirdly, They gave the sense; Sd&> dwi v' som 
sekel, put weight to it; i. e. showed its import- 
ance and utility; thus applying verbal criticism, 
and general exposition, to the most important 
purpose. 

Fourthly, They caused them to understand 
the reading; Nopca wii vaiyabinu bammikra, 



134 A Letter to 

and they understood, had a mental taste and 
perception of the things which were in the 
reading; i. e. in the letter and spirit of the 
text. 

This mode of expounding is still more ne- 
cessary to us. First, Because the Sacred 
Writings, as they came from God, are shut up 
in languages no longer vernacular. Secondly, 
Ninety-nine out of a hundred know nothing of 
these languages. Thirdly, Provincial customs 
and fashions are mentioned in these Writings, 
which must he understood, or the force and 
meaning of many texts cannot be compre- 
hended. Fourthly, Sacred things are illus- 
trated by arts and sciences, of which the 
mass of the people are as ignorant as they 
are of the original tongues. Fifthly, There 
is a depth in the word of God, which can- 
not be fathomed, except, either by Divine 
inspiration, which no idler has reason to ex- 
pect; or by deep study and research, for 
which the majority of the people have no 
time. Sixthly, The people trust in general 
to the piety, learning, and abilities of their 
ministers; and maintain them as persons ca- 
pable of instructing them in all the deep 
things of God ; and, believing them to be 
holy men, they are confident, they will not 
take their food and raiment under the pre- 
tence of doing a work, for which they have 
not the ordinary qualifications. 

You may well exclaim, " Who is sufficient 
for these things ? and 1 may with equal propri- 



A Preacher , tyc, 135 

ety answer, He who is taught by the Spirit of 
God, and neglects not to cultivate his mind in 
the knowledge of bis Divine Testimonies. 

16. While you are engaged in the pulpit in 
recommending the salvation of God, endeavour 
to feel the truth you preach, and diffuse a Di- 
vine animation through every part. As the 
preacher appears to preach, the people hear 
and believe. You may set it down as an incon- 
trovertible truth, that none of your hearers 
will be more affected with your discourse than 
yourself. A dull, dead preacher, makes a dull, 
dead congregation. 

17. Shun all controversies about politics : 
and especially that disgrace of the pulpit, politi- 
cal preaching. I have known this do much 
evil ; but though I have often heard it, I never 
knew an instance of its doing good. It is not 
the bread which God has provided for His 
children ; and from the pulpit, it is neither 
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, nor for 
instruction in righteousness. If others will 
bring this chaff into the house of God, copy 
them not : you are called to feed the flock of 
Christ ; and this you cannot do but by the sin- 
eere milk of the word, and the bread of life. 
For what is the chaff to the wheat? saith the 
Lord. 

18. A sentence or two of affectionate prayer 
in different parts of the discourse has a won- 
derful tendency to enliven it, and to make the 
people hear with concern and interest. On 
this subject, a great, foreign orator gives the 



1 36 A Letter to 

ministers of the gospel the following advice, 
" When you have proved the truth of the prin- 
ciples you laid down, you have done but little 
of the great ministerial work. It is from this 
point, the proof of your doctrine, that you are 
to set out to triumph over the passions of your 
auditory ; to strip the sinner of every subter- 
fuge and excuse, that conviction may lead him to 
repentance. To produce this effect, leave your 
proofs and divisions behind you ; address your- 
self to the conscience in powerful interroga- 
tives ; repeat nothing that you have before 
said ; you have now to produce a new effect, 
and must use a new language. Employ the ut- 
most energy of your soul to show them that 
happiness is to be found no where but in God. 
What should I say more ? Forget method, for- 
get art itself. — Lift up your soul in affection- 
ate prayer to God ; — become the intercessor 
of your auditory, that the multitude which with- 
stood your menaces, may be constrained to 
yield to the effusions of your love?' So preach 
and pray, that your congregation may be made 
better, or purpose to become better, in conse- 
quence of your labour. 

19. Seldom quote poetry in your sermons : 
if you avail yourself of the sentiment of the 
poet, give it in plain prose. To say the least 
of this custom, it certainly is not agreeable to 
the rules of congruity to interlard prose dis- 
courses with scraps of verse. It is nothing but 
custom that renders this impropriety at all sup- 
portable. Reverse the business, and see how 
oddly a poem will appear which has here and 



A Preacher, fyc. 137 

there scraps of prose in it. I suppose the Eu- 
ropeans borrowed this method from the Asia- 
tics: but it is more tolerable in their languages 
than in ours. All the Eastern tongues are 
highly figurative, and such a language put into 
numbers will easily form Poetry. The tran- 
sition, therefore, from their poetic prose to 
verse, is by no means so great and uncouth in 
their language, as in ours. It must be granted, 
that many public speakers use it sometimes ; 
but, the very best speakers use it very sel- 
dom. I wish it to be generally avoided ; not 
only because I believe it does no good, but 
also, because there are few who know how to 
do it well, and the poet is often murdered by 
his injudicious rehearser. How can a man, 
who has scarcely a dignified sentiment in his 
prose, quote, with any propriety, a smblime 
thought in verse ? 

20. While I have you in the pulpit, I will 
give you a concluding advice relative to this 
part of the business. Never ape any person, 
however eminent he may be for piety, or mi- 
nisterial, abilities. Every man has a fort, as it 
is called, of his own ; and if he keep within 
it, he is impregnable. The providence of 
God has caused many of the natural manners 
of men to differ as much as their persons: and it 
is nearly as impossible for a man to imitate the 
peculiar manners of another, as it is to assume 
his features. It is on this account that no one 
has ever succeeded who has endeavoured to 
copy another : and as the aiming to do it, is 
12 



138 A Letter to 

easily discoverable, the man who acts thus, is 
despicable in the eyes of the people. And 
that man is justly despised by others, who has 
so far despised himself and his Maker, as to 
endeavour to throw off his natural self in order 
to act in another man's character. In former 
ages, such a person was termed Hypocrite; 
i. e. one who endeavours to personate another. 
I need not tell you how much and how deserv- 
edly this character is execrated insacredthings. 
By such conduct all is risked, and all is lost: 
that which you had of your own is ruined in 
attempting to get that which belongs to your 
neighbour ; and his excellencies not suiting 
you, you fail in the attempt to personate him. 
and are thereby rendered ridiculous. The 
fable of the dog and shadow, will fully illus- 
trate the residue of my meaning on this part of 
the subject. 

21. Besides prayer and preaching, you will 
often have two other important duties to per- 
form : viz. to baptize, and to administer the 
Sacrament of the Lord ' s Supper. These 1 ad' 
vise you, and, indeed, it is the advice and di- 
rection of the Conference, to administer ac- 
cording to the Form prescribed by the Church of 
England.* You may abridge this form, and 

* This advice is only applicable to tbe Preachers in 
England, where, in many places, they use the Form pre- 
scribed in the Liturgy of the Established Church. In 
this country, the Discipline of our Church contains 
Forms of Prayer (abridged; indeed, from those used in 
the English Church,) both for Baptism and the Lord's 



A Preacher, 4*c. 139 

this you will find often necessary ; but you 
cannot mend it. 

When you baptize, let it be, if possible, in 
the face of the congregation, and not in the 
vestry, nor in private. Take occasion in a few 
words to explain its nature and importance, 
both to the congregation, and to the parents : 
and insist on the personal attendance of the 
latter, that you may give them those directions 
and charges relative to their bringing up their 
children in the discipline and admonition of 
the Lord, which the case requires ; and take 
heed that all whom you baptize be properly 
registered ; and let the register book be kept in 
the most secure place, because it is of great 
importance ; and in all cases in which a baptis- 
mal register can be applied, these registers are 
complete evidence in law. 

Should any tell you that your baptism is not 

Supper ; and so appropriate and excellent are they, that 
no one ought either to mend them, or substitute 
others in their place. 

In respect to the observations on the validity of their 
Baptism, though the decision of the English Judge is 
very important in respect to settling the controversy be- 
tween the Dissenters and members of the Establish- 
ment, in a legal point of view, yet it does not apply with 
equal force to us in this country, where Church and 
State are disunited, and where our civil institutions re- 
cognize all denominations of Christians, in ail iheir rites 
and ceremonies. If any, therefore, dispute the validity 
of the ordinances as administered by us, they must be 
silenced by a scriptural vindication of our ministry, and 
of the organization of our Church. 

American Editor. 



140 A Letter to 

sufficient or legal; convince him of his mis- 
take if you can, and show him that his asser- 
tion is false. Your baptism is as legal and as 
effectual to all Christian and civil purposes, as 
that of the Archbishop of Canterbury. This 
was ever the sense of our law in reference to 
the baptisms performed by Dissenters : but it 
had not fully expressed that sense till a few 
years back. I attended the arguings in the 
court of Arches before Sir John Nicol, in the 
case of Kemp v. Wickes, Clk. who refused to 
grant Christian burial to the child of the for- 
mer, being a Dissenter; because he alleged it 
had not Christian baptism, being baptized by a 
Dissenting minister. But the learned Judge, 
examining the practice and doctrine of the 
Christian church, from the Apostles till the 
final revision of our Liturgy, proved, that in 
aN cases, where water was used as the element, 
and the sacred name of Father, Son, and Holy 
Ghost, invoked in the act of sprinkling or im- 
mersion; there, baptism was administered to 
all Christian ends and purposes, without any 
particular reference to the person who of- 
ficiated .-—that the church always abhorred the 
iteration or repetition of baptism, even in cases 
where persons officiated who were deemed 
heretics, when it was fully proved that water 
was used; and the person was sprinkled or 
dipped in the name of the ever-blessed Trini- 
ty. He then gave it as the Judgment of the 
Court, that such a baptism, administered by 
any Dissenting minister, or person in holy or- 



A Preacher, fa. 141 

ders, pretended holy orders, or pretending to 
holy orders, was an efficient and legal baptism 
to all Christian and civil purposes. This is, 
therefore, the doctrine of the Church and State 
relative to this point; and this ever was the 
doctrine of both, previously to this declara- 
tion ; for the interpretations of Mr. James 
Wheatly, and the Rubrics of king James, in the 
Common Prayer, are of wo legal authority, and 
consequently worthy of no regard as to the 
subject in question. The opposite is both a 
false and dangerous doctrine, utterly unworthy 
of the charitable and dignified spirit of Chris- 
tianity. It is dangerous, as it might involve 
one of the most important state questions that 
could come before a British public. Mr. 
Thomas Seeker, afterwards Archbishop of 
Canterbury, was the son of a Dissenting mi- 
nister, born in 1693, was baptized after the 
form of that church, and studied at three Dis- 
senting schools, successively, until he was 19 
years of age ; when he went to the University 
of Oxford, and afterwards entered the commu- 
nion of the Church of England. He was, in 
1732, nominated one of the chaplains of the 
king ; in 1733 was appointed rector of St. 
James's : January 5, 1734, he was elevated to 
the bishopric of Bistol ; to that of Oxford in 
1737 : in 1760 exchanged the prebend of Dur- 
ham and rectory of St. James's, for the dean- 
ery of St. Paul's; and in 1758 he was named 
and confirmed to the Archbishopric of Can- 
12* 



142 A Letter to. 

terbury. He officiated at the funeral of king 
George II.; and at the proclamation of his pre- 
sent majesty, whom he had baptized when rec- 
tor of St. James's; and whom, with his queen, 
he married and crowned, 8th September, 1761; 
and on the 8th of September, 1762, he baptized 
the prince of Wales, and afterwards several of 
their majesties' children. We hear nothing of 
his ever having been re-baptized. If his bap- 
tism was not a Christian, efficient, and legal 
baptism, consequently he could not baptize or 
confer orders ; but he did both. Now, were 
we to allow the Antichristian and dangerous 
doctrine, that no baptism is either efficient or 
legal, but that which is conferred by a Popish 
Priest, or a Clergyman of the Church of Eng- 
land; then, these monstrosities and abomina- 
tions would follow: — Our blessed King is no 
Christian, for he was baptized by a person who 
was never himself baptized; and he is no right' 
ful sovereign, for he was consecrated by a man 
who was no Christian! And, added to all this, 
the true succession in the church is interrupted 
and broken; for all the baptisms and ordina- 
tions of Archbishop Seeker, not only while 
presiding in the see of Canterbury, but also 
while he was a country clergyman, and succes- 
sively bishop of Bristol and bishop of Oxford, 
were invalid and Antichristian ; and all the 
Ecclesiastics and high church dignitaries which 
have descended through that line are spurious; 
and the whole state of the English church is 



A Preacher, fyc. 143 

unsettled and corrupt! God save us from 
such Antichristian, unholy, and unconstitutional 
doctrines ! 

In administering the Sacrament of the Lord's 
supper, be deeply reverent and devout in all 
your deportment. Pour out the wine into the 
cups leisurely, and take heed that you spill not 
one drop of it. — Shedding the wine on the table 
cloth, to say the least of it, is highly unbe- 
coming and ungraceful : keep firm hold both 
of the bread and of the cup, till you feel that 
the communicant has hold with yourself. The 
dropping the bread, and spilling the wine, has, 
in several cases, when the communicant was 
about to receive them, produced great distur- 
bance in weak and scrupulous, though pious 
minds. 

Treat the sacred elements with great re- 
spect ; for, although they are not the body and 
blood of Jesus Christ in any sense of the word, 
yet they represent both; and, consequently, 
they represent the sacrificial offering of our 
Lord Jesus for the redemption of a lost and 
ruined world. Impress this on the minds of 
the people : get them to fix their hearts upon 
the sacrificial offering thus represented ; and 
then they will discern the Lord's body ; and 
not eat and drink their own condemnation. — 
Where the minister conducts this solemn ordi- 
nance as he should, no institution of Christiani- 
ty is of more use to the souls of the faithful. 



144 A Letter to 



V. Concerning your Behaviour in your Circuity 
or Place where you exercise your Ministry, 

1. Never disappoint a place : this would be 
contrary to your covenant with God, your 
agreement with your brethren, and your en- 
gagements to the people. Keep your own 
watch always to true time, and begin precisely 
at the time appointed. Never be a minute la- 
ter than true time, except in the country, 
where there is no public clock : then Jive 
minutes may be allowed for the difference be- 
tween clocks and watches. But these five mi- 
nutes may be as well before as after common 
time in other places. Do not many preachers, 
of all denominations, sin against God and their 
own souls, by not attending to this ? Let tis 
consider the subject? Suppose preaching be 
published for seven o'clock, and you go not in 
for five, ten, or fifteen minutes after ; what 
can your congregation think of you ? You pub- 
lish preaching for such a time, and you do not 
come in till considerably after; and this is 
your usual custom.— Then, (harsh as the say- 
ing may appear) you are certainly a habitual 
and public liar ; and though such conduct may 
pass without much reprehension fromthe good- 
natured people ; can you imagine that there is 
no enormity in it in the sight of the God of 
Truth? Surely you cannot. I never knew a 
preacher who acted in this way who did not 
lose the confidence of the people to such a de- 



A Preacher, #c. 145 

gree, as essentially to injure his public useful- 
ness. Add to this, that the congregations 
are ever ruined by such conduct. A Metho- 
dist preacher who acts thus, breaks that rule 
which, on his admission into the connexion, 
he solemnly promised to keep : be punctual ; do 
every thing exactly at the time. See Rule 10, 
of the twelve rules of a Helper. How can he 
answer this to God, to his conscience, to his 
brethren, and to the people ? A mere subter- 
fuge, or an excuse, increases the sin. 

2. Be punctual in getting in proper time to 
the place where you are to dine and lodge. — 
Do not make a whole family wait upon you. 
This is both injustice and insolence. While I 
readily grant, with our blessed Lord, that the 
labourer is worthy of his meat ; yet he should 
certainly come to receive it in due time: and he 
who habitually neglects this, disappointing and 
confusing the families wherever he comes, is 
not worthy of a morsel of bread. I have known 
some, of more than common ministerial abilities, 
lose their importance, and ruin themselves in 
the opinion of the people, by their want of 
punctuality in this respect. 

3. Never leave any place you visit, without 
reading a portion of Scripture, and praying with 
the family: and seize the most convenient time 
for family-prayer in the houses where you 
lodge. Just before they sit down to meat is, 
in my opinion, the best time : Then the seve- 
ral members of the family are generally pre- 
sent. But I have often observed, that one, and 



146 A Letter to 

another, after having hurried down their vic- 
tuals, have either gone, or have been called 
away to business ; so that before the whole 
family had finished their meal, one -third of the 
members of it were not to be found. There 
are, it is true, some families so well regulated, 
that this secession is never permitted ; yet, 
even among these, I have always found it the 
best way to have prayer before meals, and es- 
pecially at the breakfast hour. Should you 
be invited to any place where you are not per- 
mitted to pray with the family, never go thi- 
ther again; and give them your reason. An am- 
bassador of God should be transacting the bu- 
siness of his Master whithersoever he goes; and 
where he is not permitted to do it, there God 
has not sent him. Be steady, keep a good con- 
science, and a good conscience will keep you. 

4. If you wish to keep a good conscience, 
you must walk as in the presence of God. Ex- 
tremes beget extremes. Take heed then, 
that while you avoid levity on the one hand, 
you fall not into sour godliness on the other. 
There are some who have the unhappy art of 
making a jest out of every thing; and even ap- 
ply Scripture in this way. Such conduct is 
execrable. There are others, who, being of 
an unhappy cast of mind, through a kind of na- 
tural or factitious melancholy, strip a man of 
salvation for a smile, and condemn him to the 
pit for being cheerful. Avoid both these exr 
tremes ; and remember that levity will ape 
religious cheerfulness, and sourness of temper 



A Preacher i 4-c. 147 

will endeavour to pass itself off for Christian 
gravity. But do not judge from such appear- 
ances. There are some who are naturally of 
a quiet i grave turn of mind; which, in general, 
gains them credit for much more godliness than 
they possess. There are others who are na- 
turally of a merry, volatile spirit. These often 
get credit for less religion than they enjoy. — 
Mr. Whitfield once judiciously observed on 
this subject, that an ounce of grace went farther 
in some than a pound in others. For light on 
this and many other matters of importance, 
remember that every human spirit has its own 
peculiar, natural characteristic which was 
given it by its Creator; and which He never 
changes, nor designs should be changed. The 
business of Divine grace in converting the 
soul, is not to destroy its natural characteristics; 
but to purify, refine, and adapt their vast va- 
rieties to the innumerable purposes of His wis- 
dom and goodness displayed in their creation. 

5. Tell your secret trials and temptations 
to very few. — Your weakness, &c. should be 
known only to God and yourself. No one 
should be trusted, except that friend whom 
you know well, and to whom you can at all 
times trust even your life. i have known 
some who were telling their trials, weak- 
nesses, &c. every where; the consequence 
was, they were despised, or pitied, without 
being esteemed. 

6. Wherever you go, discountenance that 
disgraceful custom (properly enough termed) 



148 •# Letter to 

Bibliomancy;.i. e. divination by the Bible. I 
need scarcely observe, that this consists in 
what is called dipping into the Bible, taking 
passages of Scripture at hazard, and drawing 
indications thence concerning the present and 
future state of the souL This is a scandal 
to Christianity. So also are those religious 
trifles, impiously and ominously called Scrip- 
ture Cards. Thank God! these have never 
been very common among us ; and are cer- 
tainly not of Methodist growth. In an evil 
hour they were first introduced ; and have 
since been criminally tolerated. I have found 
them the constant companions of religious 
gossips; and have seen them drawn for the pur- 
pose of showing the success of journeys, en- 
terprises, &c. Very great mischief they have 
done to my own knowledge ; and sensible 
persons have through them been led to de- 
spise the whole of that system from which 
they never sprung, on which they have never 
been ingrafted, and in which they have never 
been more than barely tolerated. Giving tfie 
authors of them all the credit we can for 
the goodness of their intention, we cannot 
help saying of their productions (and this is 
giving them the very best character they de- 
serve) that they are the drivellings of re- 
ligious nonage, or of piety in superannuation. 
I do not find that Mr. Wesley ever made, 
used, or approved of these things ; but as 
they were tolerated in his time, they have 
been attributed to himself. Hence the fol- 
lowing calumny in a late publication, the 



A Preacher ,.fyc. 149 

Encyclopedia Perthensis : " We have heard 
it affirmed (say the editors,) that those well- 
meaning people called Methodists have long 
practised Bibliomancy, with regard to the fu- 
ture state of their souls ; but that some of their 
members having been driven to despair by 
texts occurring to them, that threatened the 
most awful judgments ; their late pastor, Mr. 
Wesley, to prevent such fatal consequences 
from recurring, improved upon this system of 
sacred lottery, by printing several packs of cards 
with a variety of texts, containing nothing but 
the most comfortable promises : and thus his 
disciples drew with courage and comfort, in a 
lottery where there were various prizes, great 
and small, but no blanks." I am sorry that 
there should ever have been the least shadow 
of ground for the above calumny : but let these 
gentlemen know, and let all men by these pre- 
sents know, that the great body of Methodists 
never used them ; that the preachers in ge- 
neral highly disapprove of them ; and that what 
is* said about Mr. Wesley's fabricating them, 
&c. is, to use a Lilliputian expression, the thing 
that is not. I am glad to find that they are 
daily dying among the few that did use them : 
I hope soon to hear that they are all finally 
buried ; and earnestly pray that they may ne* 
ver have a resurrection, except to shame and 
everlasting contempt. 

7. Never go in debt for food, clothes, or any 
thing else : it is no sin to die in a ditch through 
hunger or cold ; but it is a crime to go in debt, 
13 



150 Ji Letter to 

when there is not the fullest prospect of being 
able to pay. It is the most certain and ho- 
nourable way, never to sit down to the food, nor 
put on the clothes, till the bills for both are 
discharged. By these means you will keep 
clear of the world, and make most of the little 
you have. Every word of the old adage is 
true : " Live not on trust, for that is the way 
to pay double" 

8. Never go out on parties of pleasure, how- 
ever innocent they may be : what, in this case, 
would be considered as no evil in another, 
might be reputed a crime in you. Excursions 
for the benefit of health, and these may often 
be needed, ate not included here. 

9. Never choose a circuit for yourself. If 
you do, and succeed in getting the object of 
your choice ; make up your mind to bear all 
the crosses alone, which you may meet with in 
it : for how can you look to God for strength 
to support you under trials, which you may 
reasonably conclude are of your own pro- 
curing ? You are God's messenger ; pray 
Him, therefore, to send you where you may do 
and get most good. In such a place the crosses 
you meet with are God's crosses ; and He is 
bound not only to support you under them, but 
to sanctify them to the good of your soul. 

10. Get a genuine friend whenever you can, 
and prize him much when you have got him. 
Beware of forming hasty friendships : they are 
seldom solid. Confide little in the person who 
suddenly professes uncommon affection for you; 



A Preacher, &rc. 151 

He may be sincere; but depend upon it, he 
will not be steady. Remember the proverb, 
Hot love is soon cold. Those who form hasty 
friendships are always fickle. This is bad, but 
it is not the worst in this business ; for these 
very persons, through the changeableness of 
their hearts, soon withdrawing their affections 
from you, Will accuse you of ingratitute and 
unkindness ; while the whole is owing to the 
uncertainty of their own character, and the 
fickleness of their own hearts. Shun such, as 
you would an enemy : for they are not less in- 
jurious. On this subject I will give you two 
Asiatic proverbs : 1. Never trust to appear- 
ances; behold, the drum, with all its noise, is 
empty within. 2. If you have a friend who 
takes offence at trifles, break entirely with 
him, for he is not to be trusted. 

VI. Concerning your Behaviour in the House 
where you lodge. 

1. On your arrival, get as speedily as possi- 
ble to private prayer ; and earnestly beg God 
to bless your coming ; — to bless you to the fa- 
mily, and to the congregation, so that you may 
leave that place with an increase of spiritual 
life, and with the comfortable satisfaction of 
having been a messenger of peace to that house, 
and to the people of that place. 

2. Show yourself satisfied with every thing 
you receive. Be not nice in Your food. Do 
not keep a lordly distance froni the family :— 



152 A Letter to 

Be so familiar with them as to gain their con- 
fidence ; that you may the better succeed in 
talking with them concerning their souls. At 
the same time keep a doe distance, that, while 
you are esteemed as a brother in Christ, you 
may he acknowledged as His minister. There 
is much truth in that proverb, "Too much 
familiarity breeds contempt." 

3. Speak closely and lovingly to every per- 
son in the family : but let it be as much apart 
as possible ; for members of the same house- 
hold seldom speak freely before each other. 

He who despises little things, shall fall by 
little and little. Do not, therefore, disregard 
the following small advices. 

4. Give the family where you lodge as little 
trouble as possible : never desire any of them, 
not even the servants, to do any thing for you 
that you can conveniently do for yourself It is 
an odious thing to see a person, whose charac- 
ter should be the servant of all, pressing every 
body into his service ; giving unnecessary 
trouble wherever he comes ; turning a house 
upside down ; and being dissatisfied with every 
thing that is done for him. 1 have always seen 
that those who require most attendance are 
the most difficult to be pleased ; for they are 
generally of a proud or discontented spirit; and 
such a spirit is never satisfied. A man of a 
truly Christian and noble mind, finds it his 
highest interest to have few wants ; and es- 
teems it a luxvry to minister to his own ne- 
cessities, ^ 



A Preacher , fyc. 153 

5. Never pull off your boots, shoes, or gait- 
ers, in a parlour or sitting-room. Leave your 
hat, whip, great-coat, &c. in the hall, lobby, 0'm 
or some such place. Do not leave your foul 
linen, dirty clothes, shoes, &c. about in the 
room where you lodge. After having left your 
bed uncovered for some time to cool and air, 
lay on the clothes neatly when you quit your 
room ; and always throw up your windows 
when you go out. Empty the basin in which 
you have washed your hands, &c. and leave it 
always clean. Don't splash the walls nor the 
floor. Wipe every drop of water off the wash- 
stand, and spread your towel always to dry ; 
and when dry, fold it loosely up, and place it 
on the head of the watter-botle. Never comb 
out hair in a sitting-room, or before company ; 
this is an unpardonable vulgarity : nor brush 
your clothes in a bed-room ; — this spoils the 
furniture. See that you spill no ink on the 
floors, tables, &c. Leave every thing in the 
place where you found it ; and habituate your- 
self to put every chair you sit on in its proper ♦ 
place when you rise. Our deceased father 
used often to say, " He who lives not by rule, 
lives not at all." I would just observe, that 
a rule for every part of a man's conduct is not 
easily obtained ; but example teaches more 
forcibly, and more effectually. Thirty-three 
years ago I was appointed to travel in the Ply- 
mouth circuit with the late excellent Mr. J. 
Mason. I never met with a more upright, or- 

13* f ' 



154 A Letter to 

derly, regular, decent man.* From his con- 
duct I learned more on the above subjects, 
than from all the precepts I ever received, or 
from all the books I ever read. When you 
meet with such a person, thank God for the 
privilege, and endeavour to profit by it. 

6. Observe rule and order in every thing ; 
and it will not only be much to your own com- 
fort, but will acquire you credit wherever you 
come. Remember, that cannot be considered 
as a small thing to you, which either prejudices 

* Mr. Mason made it the study Gf his life to maintain 
his character as a Preacher, a Cfiristian, and a Man, 
the latter word taken in its noblest sense : and he did 
this by cultivating his mind in every branch of useful 
knowledge within his reach ; and his profiting was great. 
In the History of the World, and the History of the 
Church, he was very extensively read. With Anatomy 
and Medicine he was weH acquainted ; and his know- 
ledge of Natural History, particularly of Botany, was 
very extensive. In the latter science he was inferior to 
few in the British Empire. His Botanical collections 
w T ould do credit to the first museum in Europe ; and es- 
pecially his collections ot English plants, all gathered, 
preserved, classified, and described by himself. But 
this was his least praise. He laid all his attainments in 
natural science under contribution to his Theological 
studies; nor could it ever be said, that he neglected his 
duty as a Christian minister, to cultivate his mind in phi- 
losophical pursuits. He was a Christian man; and in 
his life and spirit adorned the doctrine of God his Sa- 
viour. The decency, propriety, and dignity of his con- 
duct, through the whole of his life, were truly exempla- 
ry. And his piety towards God, and his benevolence 
towards man, were as deep as they were sincere. 1 am 
constrained to add, »< he was a man, take him for all in 
all, 1 shall not look upon his like again." 



A Preacher, fyc^ 

a family against you, or is instrumental in ac- 
quiring you their good graces. ^&4jt* "* 

7. Shun tea-drinking visits : these, in ge- 
neral, murder time, and can answer no good* 
purpose either to your body or soul. If you 4 ,- 
go out in this way at any time, let it be only 
where you have every reason to believe your j 
visit is likely to be useful to the souls of the Z- * 
people. But is it likely to be very useful ^M 
where there is a large party ? ^* 

Thirty-seven years ago I met with Mr. Wes- 
ley's Letter on Tea. I read it, and resolved A j 
from that hour to drink no more of the juice 
of that herb till I could answer his arguments 
and objections. — I have seen that tract but once // 
since ; yet from that day until now, I have not 
drank a cup of tea or coffee. For these things 
I mostly found a substitute in the morning ; iL 

and when I could not, I cheerfully went with- •■ 
out breakfast : and in their place, 1 never took ^y* 
any thing in the evening. By this line of con- 
duct, I have not only joined hands with God to 
preserve a feeble constitution ; but I can de- 
monstrate that I have actually saved several y^m 
7vhole years of time, which otherwise must 45**^ 
have been irrecoverably lost ; and perhaps my 
soul with them : for I have often had occasion 
to observe, that tea-drinking visits open the 
flood-gates of various temptations. 

How can those exclaim against needless self- 
indulgence and waste of time, who go out on 
such occasions in the evenings ! It is a mystery 
to me which I never wish to be able to unra- 



a 

i 

i 



156 A « a A Lette^ to 

^ vel, how men can act in this way, and preach 
J% ^#^ftta?%!^jiave often wondered that this 
4HL matter is never spoken of to the yonng preach- 
*^\ers when they are admitted. But who can s 
^V with propriety, warn them against this evil ? 
*^* Only those who are guiltless : — and where 
>\ are they ? — Alas ! alas ! do we not make a great 
vJ3 outcry against evils, however discreditable 
A^ to us as Christians and ministers, which are 
^~ in themselves, and in their necessary con- 
r. sequences, of little moment, in comparison of 
> ^H this epidemic and dangerous disorder ? But if 
v-' our own conduct in this regpect reproach us, 
should we, while honest mep, withhold the word 
of caution and advice from our brother ? 
8. Go out as littfe ^s possible to eat and 
\ # drink. Why is the positive command of Christ, 
j^ on this head, so generally disregarded ? Go not 
^Nfc from house to house, Luke x. 7. The acting 
^^» contrary to this precept has often brought great 
disgrace on the gospel of God. Stay in your 
^^ own lodgings as much as possible, that you may 
^Jfcfchave time for prayer and study. I have heard 
J*>^ pious people (who received the preachers of 
^^the gospel iato their houses) remark, " that 
they always found that preacher to be most 
useful, who kept most in his closet." Seldom 
frequent the tables of the rich or great. If 
you do, it will unavoidably prove a snare to 
you ; the unction of God will perish from your 
mind ; and your preaching be only a dry, bar- 
ren repetition of old things. — The bread of God 
|in your hands will be like the dry, mouldy, 



% 



\ 



^ A Preacher $-c. f f 157 

Gibeonitish crusts, mentioned Joshua ix. 5. — 
Visit the people, and speak to Mem about 
their souls, as often and as much as you can ; 
but be not at the mercy of every invitation to 
go out for a morsel of bread. If you take not 
this advice, you will do no good, get no good, 
and utterly evaporate your influence and con- 
sequence. The people should see to it, that 
such a provision be made for their preachers 
at home, as to lay them under no necessity of 
going out for a morsel of bread ; but this is not 
always the case. When you do go out, let 
your visits be short. The only time that a 
man of study and business can spare is the even- 
ing, after all his work is done : — But take 
care, if you sup out, never to do it to the pre- 
judice either of early rising, or morning 
preaching. 

VII. Concerning the Cultivation of your Mind. 

1 . Pray much, read much, write much. Have 
always some essay, dissertation, &c. upon the 
anvil ; and be sure you finish whatever you 
undertake. Beginning a number of things, and 

finishing none of them, begets in the mind a 
habit of indecision and carelessness. 

2. Read the book of God. Read it regu- 
larly through, at least once in the year; and take 
down in order every text you think you have 
light sufficient to preach from. By these means 
you will ever be acquiring new subjects, and 
be preserved from the curse of harping on the 



158 % * If, Letter to 

same string in all the circuits where you 
preach. * 

3. Always carry a New Testament about 
you ; and let God's word be your constant 
companion. — Read the Scriptures as the word 
of God : read them with deep attention, and 
read them with reverence. Read a chapter 
or two every day upon your knees ; and earnest- 
ly beg the Father of lights to give you the spi- 
rit of wisdom in the revelation of Himself, that 
you may know, feel, and preach the zvhole truth 
as it is in Jesus. 

In this work every morning should be em- 
ployed ; and then take care to mark down the 
texts which you may have occasion to preach 
on in the course of the day. Never leave this 
subject to any other part of the day : you may 
be called upon unexpectedly to preach, when 
there is not time for you to go and search for 
a text. In such a case, if you are not prepared, 
confusion is the least evil you can expect to 
meet with. Therefore, see that the morning 
always provides for all the possible calls of the 
day on this head. It is a sore evil to see the 
preacher, who should himself accompany the 
people in every act of worship, employing the 
time they are singing the high praises of God, 
in fumbling through his Bible to get some text 
to preach from. 

4. But while you read the Bible as the reve- 
lation of God, and the fountain of Divine 
knowledge, don't let your reading end there, 
I said before, read much ; but take care that 



A Preacher, fyc. 159 

all your reading be directed to the increase of 
your knowledge and experience in the things 
of God. With an eye constantly directed to 
this end, acquaint yourself as much as possible 
with every branch of science. No man can 
fully explain the Bible, who has not a general 
acquaintance with the most important sciences 
and arts. The Bible, considered even as a 
human composition, is a book of the greatest 
learning under heaven : and there is scarcely 
an art or science which is not alluded to in it; 
and images frequently borrowed from them to 
illustrate those sacred truths which the Spirit 
of God declares. It would be the easiest 
thing among ten thousand, to prove that there 
are multitudes of texts in that blessed book, 
which no man can explain, who has not a tole- 
rable knowledge of History, Chronology, Ge- 
ography, Astronomy, Anatomy, and Chemistry. 
If this be the case (and it would be easy to de- 
monstrate it,) what pretensions can an igno 
rant person have, however pious, to explain 
this book ? Illiterate piety may be useful in 
exhorting sinners to return to God, and point- 
ing out, in a general way, the path that leads 
to God by Christ; but it certainly cannot, with- 
out immediate inspiration, explain and apply 
the deep things of God. I am not speaking 
now of that learning which is the result of a 
proper acquaintance with Hebrew and Greek, 
the original languages in which the Sacred 
Writings were given by God to man: No. I 
am referring to that literature which any man 



160 A Letter to 

of good common sense may, by proper appli- 
cation, acquire from writings which abound in 
his mother tongue. Yet I would not be thought 
to discourage those other pursuits : 1 think it 
is of great consequence to a preacher of the 
gospel to be able to read the old and new co- 
venants of his God, in those languages in which 
they were originally given. But should I in- 
sinuate that this is at all necessary, I should of- 
fend some of the generation of his children, 
who, not througfe envy, but ignorance of their 
utility, speak against the acquirement of these 
languages. It is well if such do not spend 
more time in unnecessary visits, and unimpor- 
tant letter-writing, than would be requisite 
to learn all the Hebrew and Chaldee of the 
Old Testament, and Greek of the New. I 
have often advised young men to devote a part 
of their time in this way : but though I have 
known many who have begun, yet I have not 
been so happy as to find one who had strength 
and determination of mind sufficient to bring 
his studies to any profitable conclusion. How- 
ever, this I have known, that while they em- 
ployed themselves in this way, they were sa- 
ved from tea-drinking visits, and the various 
snares which those who frequent them gene- 
rally fall into. This was, so far, clear gain. 

5. Don't be afraid of philosophy, i. e. the love 
of wisdom; nor of reason, which, under the 
light of the Divine Spirit, is the only true in- 
terpreter of the Sacred Records. — Some have 
taken upon themselves to speak against these, 



A Preacher, fyc. 161 

who neither understand their name nor their 
nature ; and others have decried them, who, 
being of a lazy, indolent habit, wish hereby to 
excuse and sanction their oscitancy and sloth- 
fulness. Pursuits of the utmost importance to 
the ministerial character and success are term- 
ed by these dry studies : because they know 
not how to study: they cannot study to any 
good purpose ; they refer not all to one end-— 
viz. God's glory in the increase of their own 
salvation, and their usefulness among men. 
What is the consequence ? Why, they idle 
away that time which is an invaluable gift of 
God ; and either sleep away their moments, or 
become what one justly terms " the most de- 
testable of all negatively sinful characters, 
smokers of tobacco." There are some, it is 
true, who smoke and study too : the latter 
they should do, and leave the former undone. 
But these are angels in comparison of him who 
reads little, studies none, and is continually at 
the pipe. 

6. The indolent preacher is soon known by 
his preaching: he has little or no variety. He 
cannot bring out of his treasury things both 
new and old ; alas for him ! treasury he has 
none ; his coffers are all empty. 

Whatever his other increase may be, he in- 
creases not in biblical knowledge : the know- 
ledge which is necessary to explain, defend^ 
and apply the word of God. A man of this 
stamp preaches now, just ashe preached twenty 
or thirty years ago, on the same text.— It is 
14 



162 A Letter to 

exactly the same discourse, without the acces- 
sion of a single new idea I What 1 has not the 
man got his eyes a little farther opened to be- 
hold wonders in God's law ? In him, is there 
no increase in the grace and gift of preaching ? 
Is not light sown for the righteous ; and if that 
seed had been well watered, would it not have 
brought forth some fruit ? Certainly it wo«ld. 
Is this no crime before God ? Is it no sin 
against his people ? Has not the great Shep- 
herd promised His flock that He will give them 
pastors after his own hearty who will feed them 
with knowledge and understanding ? Jer. iii. 15. 
How can such persons answer to God for the 
non-improvement of the powers He has gra- 
ciously given them ? 

7 But " you fear lest, while seeking after 
knowledge, you should lose your simplicity, 
and your relish for Divine things; and it is 
better to have religion without knowledge, 
than knowledge without religion." There is, 
I grant, a kind of knowledge which puffs up; 
but this is that knowledge which is shallow in 
itself, is sought out of God, and refers not its 
attainments to him : but that knowledge which 
has for its objects God and His works, can ne- 
ver rob you of your religion, nor deprive you 
of your simplicity; but, on the contrary, will 
be a powerful mean of increasing both. True 
knowledge ever keeps its possessor humble; 
because it alone shows him how much is to be 
known, and how little he has learned. How- 
ever, I scruple not to say, that, as mere know- 



A Preacher, fyc. 163 

ledge is of no use to the soul, while possessed, 
without religion; so religion is discredited, 
while professed, without knowledge. But, 
" you despair of making any progress, because 
there is so much to be learned." The well 
of science, as well as that of religion, is ex- 
ceedingly deep, 1 grant; but where the water 
is so abundant, some may be carried awa}'; 
and remember, for your encourgement, the 
Asiatic proverb : " Partial knowledge is bet- 
ter than total ignorance : he, therefore, who 
cannot understand every thing, should learn 
what he can." 

8. In our case, candour will make allow- 
ances for partial ignorance, because of our 
supposed disadvantageous circumstances; for 
such allowances we should be duly grateful : 
but I am fully of opinion, our circumstances 
are not of that disadvantageous nature which 
at first view might appear. We have abun- 
dant opportunities of gaining knowledge of the 
most excellent and useful kind ; the know- 
ledge of God's work, and the knowledge of 
human nature. We travel about every where; 
see persons in almost every situation in life; 
and may acquaint ourselves, if not inexcusably 
indolent or deplorably stupid, with most of the 
existing and possible varieties of men and 
things. This is knowledge gained by ex- 
perience; the truth of whose principles you 
will have the opportunity of seeing continual- 
ly evinced, by their being brought into con- 
stant action. 



164 A Letter to 

9. Ignorance is one of the effects of the 
Fall; and, like all other faults of human na- 
ture, the mind is strongly wedded to it : so 
that, though light is come into the world, men 
love darkness rather than light. Some really 
seem to love ignorance even for its own sake; 
and think knowledge to be a very dangerous 
thing. Indeed some have gone so far as to in- 
sinuate, that those who endeavour to cultivate 
their minds, necessarily lose their zeal for 
God s glory, and the salvation of their souls. 
Thus the truly infamous maxim that disgraces 
both God and nature, Ignorance is the mother 
of devotion, is attempted to be set up by per- 
sons who should know better; and who have 
endeavoured to gain credit to their doctrine, 
by putting themselves under the protection of 
some of the most venerable fathers of our 
church; who, to their own great honour, and 
the edification of thousands, have taken more 
successful pains to cultivate their own minds, 
than the whole tribe of those who are con- 
tinually (in self-defence) ringing the Goth and 
Vandal changes, on the Popish eulogium of 
ignorance!* If these persons be in the prime 



* There is here an allusion to a letter in vindication 
of ignorance, and against all kinds of study, except 
reading the Bible, addressed to Mr. Mather, and print- 
ed in the Methodist Magazine. I believe the writer 
was a well-meaning woman, long since gone to a place 
where she has better employment : but the insertion of 
the letter shows that the Editors were of the same mind. 
We should all watch, lest the basest maxims of Popish 



A Preacher, fyc. 165 

ef life, and do not speedily acquire an affection 
for close reading and study, I would not ven- 
ture much for the title of an estate, the emo- 
luments of which should be continued to me, 
only during the stability of their religion. To 
the utter confusion of all men of this stamp, it 
might be easily proved, that there is a very in- 
timate connexion between vital godliness and 
a studious cultivation of a man's mind : but, as 
far as heaven is from earth, so far are lounging 
and slothfulness distant from true religion. 

10. You must never forget, that our con- 
gregations are at present far more intelligent 
than they formerly were. If this were not 
the case, it would be a proof, that God had 
never sent us : but as it is so, it is much to the 
credit of our ministry, for it proves that God 
has blessed it :— It proves that sound know- 
ledge, civilization, and genuine piety, have 
marched with us hand in hand all over the na- 
tion. But that which passed formerly in the 
daybreak of our revival, will not pass now : — 
The people are more enlightened : they have 
grown up in religious knowledge under our 

darkness should be introduced into the most reformed 
and pure state of Protestantism : we know that among 
their Doctors this was a maxim, " Quanto eris melior 
Grammaticus, tanto pejor Theologus ;*' the better gram- 
marian, the worse Divine ; and Claudius Espenasus, one 
of the Doctors of the Sarbonne, acknowledges, that 
among their best authors, Grcecum nosse suspectum fuerit; 
Hebraico proprih hmreticum; If a man understood Greek, 
he was suspected; if he knew Hebrew, he was consider- 
ed a heretic. 

14* 



166 A Letter to 

ministry; and they now require stronger nou= 
rishment. By earnest application to God by 
prayer, and diligent cultivation of our minds, 
we should keep the distance before them we 
had in the beginning : we have formerly fed 
babes in knowledge, we must now minister to 
young men and fathers. Therefore, we should 
be, in the most extensive manner, stewards of 
the mysteries of Christ, and patriarchs in know- 
ledge. 

11. To direct to any particular plan of study 
would far exceed the limits of a Letter ; for to 
do this successfully, the choice of books in the 
different departments of literature, the best 
editions of those books, the comparative me- 
rits of the different popular works on the same 
subjects, &c. &c. must all come into review. 
This one branch would require a pretty large 
volume to do it justice. Elementary books on 
the Sciences, if judiciously compiled, might be 
read with great advantage. For Theological 
works you need not step a hair's breadth beyond 
your own connexion. Meddle as little as pos- 
sible with religious Controversy ; for Contro- 
versial writings on Theological Subjects seldom 
tend to improve the mind, or sweeten the tern- 
per. I know, however, two exceptions to 
this: Mr. Wesley's Predestination Calmly Con- 
sidered, and Mr. Fletcher's Polemical Essay 
on the Twin Doctrines of Christian Imperfection 
and a Death-bed Purgatory. These two pieces 
are written in the fear and in the love of God : 
the former most amply proves, that Jesus 



A Preacher, fyc. 167 

Christ died for every man; and the latter most 
clearly and forcibly shows, that it is the privi- 
lege of every believing soul to be cleansed 
from all sin in this life. These two Tracts, 
beyond all that I have ever read on Polemical 
Divinity, speak the truth in love : a rare thing 
in religious controversy. 

Geography and Chronology should not be 
forgotten ; for "without these, who can inter- 
pret the History of the Bible : he who knows 
most of these, has an amazing advantage in 
explaining the facts both in the Old and New 
Testaments. On these subjects Prideaux's 
Connexions is an invaluable work 

You will frequently have occasion to re- 
commend, counsel, and instruct Missionaries. 
Show them the absolute necessity of acquiring 
the principles of general Grammar, which will 
be a great help to them in acquiring foreign 
languages : and let thern acquaint themselves 
well with the geography of the countries where 
the scene of their labours may lie ; and with 
the best books of Travels in those parts. 

12. As you should be well acquainted with 
the Law of God, so should you be with the 
Laws of your Country. Judge Blackstone's 
Commentaries on the laws of England, will not 
only show you what the essential Principles of 
Law and Justice are; but will also convince you, 
that your Country ha3 the best political Consti- 
tution ever framed by the wisdom of man ; a 
Constitution so perfect, as scarcely to have 
left room even for Utopian Theorists to ima- 



168 A Letter to 

gine any practicable improvement. Not to 
have read these Commentaries would be at 
once the fault, the misfortune, and the re- 
proach, of any minister of the Gospel, who 
calls himself a Briton. To these may be very 
profitably added Burns's Parish Justice. A 
Preacher, as such, will derive many advan- 
tages from a careful perusal of the former; and 
an acquaintance with the latter wall enable him 
to be very useful wherever he travels. 

To these you should add the History of your 
own Country. Rapin's History of England is, in 
the main, the most correct and the most impar- 
tial History I ever rerd. Its facts are founded 
on the State Documents , which are deposited in 
our Public Archives, the only authentic sources 
from which our true history can be derived. I 
can vouch for the general accuracy of Rapin, 
having frequently travelled over the same Re- 
cords. Dr. Henry's History of Great Britain 
is also a very valuable, useful, and correct 
work. 

If you wish to acquire a correct taste in wri- 
ting, and a proper style both in writing and 
speaking, you must have recourse to what are 
called the standard and classical works of our 
own Authors. For this purpose the Spectators 
and Guardians of Addison and Steele, are in- 
valuable. Swift wrote in pure English ; and 
his style is excellent : but the general matter 
of his works is little calculated to edify the 
mind, or mend the heart. 



A Preacher, fyc. 169 

Bacon and Boyle's works may be safely re- 
commended : they are an immense treasury 
of science. Dr. Watts' *s Improvement of Mind, 
and the works of Mr. Locke in general : Lang- 
home's Plutarch, Middleton's Life of Cicero , 
and Melmouth's translation of Pliny's Letters, 
have been recommended by good judges, as 
proper models for a pure English style. Rol- 
lings Belles Letters is an excellent work. His 
Ancient and Roman Histories are very valua- 
ble ; as is the history of the Roman Emperors 
by his amiable and pious pupil Crevier. Jose- 
phus should be carefully read by every preach- 
er : the best translation, on the whole, is that 
of Whiston. If you have recourse to the ori- 
ginal, Havercamp's edition is to be preferred 
to all others. 

With the history of the church, you should not 
be unacquainted; though the study is the most 
jejune and unsatisfactory in the whole compass 
of human knowledge: for, except that which is 
contained in the Acts of the Apostles, what is 
called the history of the church is, in most in- 
stances, a history of jars and contentions, per- 
secutions, heresies, and crimes. The colleg- 
tion of the Greek ecclesiastical historians, pub- 
lished from the edition ofFalesius, by Mr. Rea- 
ding, Cantab. 1720, Gr. and Lat. 3 vols. fol. 
is the most ample and correct: it includes Eu- 
sebius, Socrates Scholasticus, Hermias Sozoomen, 
Theodoret, and Evagrius; and extends from the 
incarnation to the year of our Lord 694. 



170 A Letter to 

The second edition of a good translation into 
English of Eusebius, Socrates, and Evagrius, 
with all the notes of Valesius, was printed at 
London, 1709,fol. This is greatly to be prefer- 
red to the preceding edition; and has some va- 
luable maps and tables. Of all modern church 
histories, that by Mo sheim, translated by Dr. 
Maclaine, 6 vols. 8vo. is indubitably the best. 
With others constructed on party principles, 
and published for party purposes, you had bet- 
ter not intermeddle. 

I might recommend some Poets : but 1 have 
often found young men who, by reading^ ac- 
quire a relish for Poetry, abandon themselves 
to this alone ; and, fancying that they have 
caught the spirit of those they read, begin to 
make verses, and thus trifle away and lose much 
time. 

Some of our ancient Poets have written on 
moral subjects inimitably. The Fairy Queen 
of Spencer ; the Purple Island^ Christ's Victory, 
and the Piscatory Eclogues of the two Fletchers, 
Giles and Phinhas, are not only beautiful, but 
highly instructive. Mr. Wesley had a very high 
opinion of Spencer ; and certainly there was 
not a better judge ofPoetry^ in the nation in his 
time. He told me once that he believed Spen- 
cer, in the 7th Canto, Book ii. of the Fairy 
Qjueen, where he describes the Cave of Mam- 
mon, had far excelled in correctness of cha- 
racter, dignity of description, and true poetic 
fancy, every thing both in Homer and Virgil. 



A Preacher , fyc. 171 

It is a pity we have no proper selection from 
Shakspeare ; no man knew human nature, nor 
perhaps the human heart, better than this wri- 
ter. By his wondrous pen every virtue and 
vice is not only personified, but assumes a body, 
and is rendered palpable • but, alas ! the un- 
derwood and brambles of this vast forest are suffi- 
cient to burn up all his majestic cedars. — But I 
have entered into a field which 1 must imme- 
diately abandon. 

13. To conclude on this point, I earnestly 
advise you to begin, continue, and end, all 
your works and studies in the name and to the 
glory of God. Never neglect to visit the sick ; 
and be sure you go wherever you are asked. 
Every study and every gratification should be 
sacrificed to the performance of your ministe- 
rial duty ; but you will have time enough for 
all, if you husband it properly. Divide your 
time for your work, and arrange your work 
to your time ; and let not one part of your bu- 
siness break in upon another. 

VIII. (Concerning the persons with whom you 
have to labour. 

Although I have been of considerable standi 
ing in the Connexion, yet I do not think that, 
on that account, my opinion can be entitled to 
much attention : but as I have taken some 
pains to form it, and you wish to know it, it 
cannot be unacceptable to you. The abilities 



172 A Letter to 

of a workman are best known by his work: 
judging in this way, I conceive the Preachers 
in general to be a most extraordinary body of 
men. The work that is performed by their 
ministry, is, (I speak, I trust, with a pure con- 
science,) the most extensive, and the most glo- 
rious, of which I have ever heard or read. — 
Now I judge, if these men were not very high 
in God's favour, He could not bless their work 
in so eminent a manner : and if they did not, 
in general, se walk as to please Him, they 
could not stand so high in His favour. There- 
fore, I conclude, that the great body of Preach- 
ers is a body of eminently useful and holy men, 
whose great actuating soul is the Spirit of the 
Most High. I think I know the Preachers as 
well as any man in the connexion : for I have 
made it a sacred point to hear all their preach- 
ing, both evening and morning, at every Con- 
ference I have attended, for many years. And 
after having seriously considered the matter 
and manner of their preaching, I scruple not 
to assert that they are (for pure doctrine, good 
sound sense, various knowledge, and impres- 
sive natural eloquence,) at least equal to any 
body of ministers I know in the nation. And I 
am satisfied, that nothing but the glorious strict- 
ness of their doctrine and discipline prevents 
them from being the most popular Preachers 
in the land. " But is there not a declension of 
the work ? And on your own ground, does 
not this prove that there is a defect in the 
workmen? 5 ' If I could credit the premises, I 



A Preacher, fyc. 173 

must certainly admit the conclusion. But I 
cannot. I have been thirty-seven years a tra- 
velling Preacher : I have had every part of 
the work under my eye in many of the little 
places, and in some of the greatest. I have 
diligently consulted all the records of our re- 
vival ; 1 have compared the former with the 
present times : and rigid impartial justice ob- 
liges me to draw the following conclusion — 
The work of God among the Methodists is at 
present abundantly more extensive, more 
scriptural, more rational, and at least as deep, 
as it has been from the beginning. I judge 
thus from what I have seen, from what I 
know, and from what I have read. Whate- 
ver has been suggested against the holiness and 
usefulness of the Preachers, and the extent 
and purity of the work, by individuals among 
ourselves, or by any others, (comparing the 
former with the present times,) I religiously 
believe to be utterly unfounded. And while I 
magnify the grace of the Lord Jesus towards 
us, I heartily pray that we may exceed our 
former selves, and walk more and more worthy 
the vocation wherewith we are called, I need 
scarcely add, that our missions are among the 
most extensive, and the most successful, in the 
world. 

IX. Concerning Marriage. 

1. I feel little encouragement to hazard any 
advice upon this subject : in general, people 
15 



174 A Letter to 

do not in this matter consult their own judg* 
ment, nor receive the counsel of their friends; 
but act according to the impulse of their pas- 
sions. It is almost the only case in the con- 
cerns of human life where reason and prudence 
are obliged to be inactive; and where they are, 
notwithstanding, most interested. However, 
a Christian should act otherwise : and a Chris- 
tian minister, who is not delivered out of the 
hands of his own passions, is a disgrace to the 
sacred character he bears. I was always an 
advocate for marriage; and as I have tried 
that state for more than thirty years, and have 
been blessed with a good wife, and with twelve 
children, it is no wonder that f should con- 
tinue to recommend it. I say, by all means 
get married; for I am satisfied that few men can 
be truly comfortable who live a single life. 
But remember, your everlasting all may de- 
pend upon the choice you make. Seek for 
genuine piety — nothing can compensate for 
the lack of this : look for sound sense, and an 
agreeable manner — that while your wife is a 
help to you, she may not, by her awkward be- 
haviour, be disgusting to others. Good natu- 
ral tempers are of great consequence. Get a 
wife who possesses these before she was 
brought to God : and, should she at any time 
lose ground in religion, her good natural dis- 
position will still remain, and your comfort 
w^ill not be materially interrupted. But when 
a woman, who has had bad natural tempers, 
loses that life of God by which they were con- 



A Preacher, 4*c. 175 

trolled or kept at bay, she becomes intolera- 
ble. Avoid a person of this character, though 
as rich as Croesus, and as beautiful as an angel. 
Let the person be nearly of your own age. 
A young man marrying an old woman, and an 
old man marrying a child, are both an abomi- 
nation to common sense and reason. Your 
wife should ever be considered as your equal; 
and, therefore, should not be of such an age in 
reference to you, as might demand the respect 
of a mother, or the correction of a child. Don't 
seek for money : it is a shocking reproach to a 
man of God to be hunting after pelf, and get- 
ting a wife merely for the sake of her posses- 
sions. I scruple not to say, that those who 
marry for money are committing adultery as 
long as they live. I say nothing concerning 
beauty, &c. but would just observe, that a man 
who is himself of a homely appearance, should 
not be nice in the choice of a wife* and, that a 
pious sensible woman, of a good natural dispo- 
sition, be she ever so ordinary, is an inesti- 
mable treasure. Beware of a woman that 
meddles with politics, or with the government 
of the church of God. Such an one cannot 
fail to embroil you with the people, wherever 
you go; and will be a source of misery to you 
as long as you breathe. 

Marriage to you can never be an indifferent 
thing : it will make or mar you ; it will be a 
blessing or a curse to you. It will either help 
you to heaven, drive you to hell, or be a 
heart-rending cross to you while you live. Nor 



176 A Letter to 

will a bad or improper marriage affect your- 
self alone : it may be the ruin of every child 
that issues from it. And, dreadful as this evil 
is, it will not rest there; they may propagate 
the plague to interminable generations; and 
millions be injured, if not lost, by your 
improper or vicious marriage. Add to this, 
that as far as you are connected with the work 
of God, it will be a great hinderance, a deep 
blot, and a leprous curse, to the church of 
Christ. I have heard it asserted by a sensi- 
ble man, a keen observer of human nature, 
and one intimately acquainted with religious 
people, that " some of the direst evils that 
threaten the present revival of religion, are 
dedueible from this source. Young ministers 
have rushed in shoals into the net; and I can- 
not add, said he, ' For all there are so many, 
yet is not the net broken,\ They are entangled 
in the meshej; but, alas ! the net is broken ! 
They are neither brought to land, nor are free 
in the water. They have little domestic hap- 
piness; they present no edifying example." 

Think of these possible evils — examine the 
circle of your acquaintance, and see them re- 
alized; Look before yon leap; add not to the 
number of 

■ The wild herd of nymphs and swains 



Who thoughtless fly into the chains, 
As custom leads the way." 

Take this step with that godly fear and scru- 
pulous caution, which a man should do, who 



A Preacher, <^c. 177 

feels he has his all at stake. If God direct you 
not, you will draw in a fearful lottery, where 
there are many blanks to one prize. And 
what I say to young men here, I would say to 
young women also, were they the objects of my 
instruction. 

2. I need lay down no rules for your 
treatment of your wife : because, if you love 
her as you ought, you will ever treat her 
well; and, if you do not love her, rules and 
directions would be mere cobwebs to you. 
One thing I must say, that when you are in 
company, you should pay as much attention 
to your wife as to any person present; avoid- 
ing, at the same time, that puerile monkeyish 
fooling and toying, which is a disgrace to 
man, and an insult to a sensible woman. 

3. Abul Fazl, author of the Ayar Danush, 
(Touchstone of Wisdom,) gives the following 
advice to a person who was going, to marry : 
ic Take (says he) the daughter of a religious 
friendly man, whom you may make your con- 
fidant on all occasions. But have nothing to 
say to three kinds of women — 1. A widow, if 
she be always extolling her deceased husband. 
2. A woman whose relations have conferred 
great favours upon you. And, 3. one who, 
whenever she sees you, speaks in a faint 
tone, and affects a delicate languid air." These 
advices show an intimate acquaintance with 
human nature; and are so full of good sense 
and meaning, that a volume might be written 
on without exhausting them. 

15* 



178 A Letter to 

4. If ever God should bless you with chil- 
dren, see that you dedicate them unreserved- 
ly to Him. Never dress them in the fashion, 
i. e. the unmeaning, unnecessary, and absurd 
foppery of the times. Give them no red shoes, 
glaring buttons, &c. This fills them with 
pride, and debases their minds; for by this 
mode of conduct they are taught to attach a 
value to things which are of no intrinsic 
worth ; and false perceptions and ideas, im- 
pressed upon the mind in so tender an age, 
are rarelv obliterated through the whole course 
of life. 

5. Never, or very rarely, take them out 
with you to dine, &c. for the following rea- 
sons : 1 . Because they are generally too much 
indulged by getting food, which in quantity 
and quality is injurious to their health. 2. 
Being treated better abroad than at home, ne- 
cessary domestic restraint becomes irksome 
to them, and they would rather be any where 
else than in their parents' house. 3. By be- 
ing too much indulged among strangers, they 
acquire too great a degree of forwardness ; 
which, for lack of judgment, often degene- 
rates into intolerable impudence. 4. They 
give great trouble to the families where they 
come; by which you cannot fail being brought 
into contempt, especially when you make it 
a custom to take them where they are nei- 
ther asked nor desired. As directions of this 
nature are not yet requisite for you, this will 



A Preacher, fyc. 179 

plead my excuse for not entering so deeply 
into this matter as its nature and importance 
might demand. 



X. Concerning the Care you should take of 
your Health. 



1. On this point it would be easy to give 
many advices of the utmost consequence. — 
But what signifies the best directions, when 
it is impossible to attend to them ? You are 
encompassed with difficulties ; and almost 
every part of the glorious work in which 
you are engaged is unfriendly to that life 
which you have devoted to God, and to the 
service of His church. From the nature of 
your work, you must be unavoidably exposed 
to all kinds of weather: — Damp houses, bad 
beds, innutritious food, and a terrible cata- 
logue of et coztera. The bad effects of these 
you may in some measure endeavour to coun- 
teract, or to suspend for a time ; but you can- 
not ultimately prevent them from hurrying 
you into eternity. Whatever deference I may 
feel myself inclined to pay to the assertion 
of a great man, viz. That a Minister of the 
Gospel is i?nmortal till his work is done; yet I 
am satisfied, that he who preaches the Gos- 
pel as he ought, will, unavoidably, sooner or 
later, become a martyr to his work. 



180 A Letter tv 

2 The bestl can say to*you on this subject is, 
Never join hands with your unfavourable cir- 
cumstances to injure your constitution, and 
hasten your death. Concerning that abomina- 
ble and fatal drain of human life, the pipe and 
the quid, I need here say nothing. My opinion 
has long since been before the public. I am 
sorry to say that I know several young men 
who are to this day murdering themselves in 
this way : but they are by me incorrigible. — 
I leave them in the hands of God, and say to 
yon, Never imitate them ; they disgrace them- 
selves, and would disgrace you. 

3. If you regard your health, never suffer 
your bed to be warmed. This is a species of 
needless self-indulgence, which is a scandal to 
the character of a man. If you suspect the 
bed to be damp, then let it be aired with a pan 
or two of coals ; but be sure you turn the 
clothes down, and let it cool at least two hours 
before you lie down. Never sleep in a damp 
bed : — this is certain death, especially to a 
delicate constitution. Thirty-two years ago I 
lay in a damp bed at Beer- Alston, in Devon- 
shire : for several months after, I was at death's 
door. Through mercy 1 recovered a little; but 
got a very bad cough through it, from which 
I have not been one day free for upwards of 
thirty years: and have every reason to believe, 
should all other mortal causes be inactive, that 
alone is sufficient to give me an untimely 
grave. If you perceive the sheets to be damp. 



A Preacher i fyc. 181 

take them immediately off, and lie with your 
stockings and waistcoat on between the blan- 
kets. 

Do not keep the same shirt on during the 
day in which you have slept the preceding night: 
the matter of insensible perspiration is expel- 
led from the body because it is noxious, and 
cannot be reabsorbed without doing the con- 
stitution great injury ; and reabsorbed it must 
be, if you continue to w r ear the same linen 
during the day, in whsch you slept all night. 

4. Never dry your wet clothes while you 
have them on: this is very injurious. If you 
have no change of raiment, (and it often hap- 
pens that a Methodist Preacher has but one 
coat) walk in the open air till they are dry, or 
go to bed that they may be dried at the fire. 
But by all means keep from the fire while they 
are upon you ; otherwise the heat, causing 
the wet to retire before it, will strike it into 
the skin, produce immediate obstructions, and 
prove the parent of many miseries. 

5. It is natural for persons, spent with fa- 
tigue in hot weather, to wish for some cooling 
drink : and some have rashly, in such circum- 
stances, taken a draught of cold water ; which 
has, in several cases, produced almost instant 
death. Others have taken spirituous liquors, 
and got a pleuritic fever in consequence. A 
proper consideration of the danger on either 
hand will make ycu cautious. When the body 
is greatly heated by the warmth of the wea- 
ther, and excessive fatigue, some fluid may be 



182 A Letter to 

necessary to supply the deficiency occasioned 
by the excessive evaporation of moisture from 
every part of the body : in such a case a few 
mouthfuls of tepid water is precisely the best 
thing you can take. Do not mind the vulgar 
prejudice that it will occasion vomiting ; it will 
occasion nothing of the kind : however, if you 
have at hand a little lemon juice, you may add 
it, with a small quantity of sugar ; and you will 
then have not only a safe, but pleasant bever- 
age. 

6. There is a most safe and effectual me- 
thod of cooling the body when overheated by 
fatigue, or the excessive warmth of the wea- 
ther, which I wish to be generally known. — 
Take a basin of cold water, dip your hands in 
it, and frequently lave the water on the wrist 
and back of each hand ; this will cool the whole 
body in a gradual and yet speedy manner, 
without the smallest danger to the general 
health. The extra quantity of caloric or prin- 
ciple of heat, accumulated in the body, will 
communicate itself to the cold water ; and the 
warmth of that in the basin will soon show you 
what a quantity of this consuming matter you 
have lost. I have frequently practised this in 
a very hot climate, with the most beneficial ef- 
fects. After thus sufficiently cooling the hands 
and wrists, even a moderate draught of cold 
water may be taken without danger. Getting 
the hands and wrists pumped on will have the 
same beneficial effects ; and if you practise this 
frequently in travelling in hot weather, all fe- 



A Preacher, $c. 183 

ver will be prevented, and the body kept cool> 
comfortable, and in a state of continual re- 
freshment. This is my general plan, when 
hot and feverish on the sabbath evening after 
my day's fatigue. I either go to the pump, or 
take a basin of cold water and lave it on my 
hands and wrists; and the consequence is, a 
lowered pulse, and general refreshment of the 
whole system. In travelling by coach, I pur- 
sue this practice at almost every stage; and 
have often most heartily thanked God for this 
additional benefit of cold water. 

If, in travelling to the Chapel at any time, 
you should be thrown into an extraordinary 
degree of heat, accompanied with profuse per 
spiration, and get yourself chilled, while 
preaching, by a current of cold air; as soon 
as you get out, walk till you are brought into 
the same state of profuse sweating you were in 
when you entered the Chapel. Then go into 
a warm room, and continue till you gradually 
cool : or, strip off your clothes, rub yourself 
dry with a towel, put on clean linen, and you 
will not suffer the slightest injury from what 
would otherwise have produced a pleurisy, or 
typhous fever, and probably terminated only 
with your life. From suddenly obstructed 
perspiration, many valuable lives have been 
lost. The plan I recommend will infallibly 
prevent such casualties. 

7. Never take that food which does not 
agree with you, however well you may relish 
it. Drink no spirituous liquors, nor poor, bad 



1§4 A Letter to 

table-beer. Water, in which a toast has been 
steeped, and covered for an hour, is beyond 
all comparison more nutritive, and more whole- 
some, than either. Wash your face, hands, 
and feet often : and neglect not every morning 
to rinse your mouth with cold water, and to 
cleanse your teeth well with a soft brush. He 
that begins this custom early, and continues in 
it, will never have the tooth-ache, nor an of- 
fensive breath. If you have a bad digestion, 
or should your meat lie ordinarily heavy 
upon your stomach, observe the following 
rules : never eat to repletion ; leave off while 
you have an appetite for more; and let not a 
morsel of any kind of food enter into your 
stomach till you have chewed it as small as 
possible. This saves the stomach at least one 
half of its ordinary labour; and remember, 
what all should know, and what few pro- 
perly observe, that it is for this very end 
that the God of nature gave you your teeth. 
Many use their teeth to make their food just 
small enough to be swallowed, and culpably 
leave the whole process of mastication to be 
performed in the stomach ! No wonder that 
such are troubled with flatulencies, indigestion, 
and many other evils. A few mouthfuls of hot 
pure water will generally relieve the stomach, 
and forward digestion. Never eat your food 
too warm; nor drink any kind of hot slops in 
the morning : — these exceedingly relax and 
weaken the fibres of the stomach, and prevent 
it from performing its proper functions. 



A Preacher, ^c. 185 

8. It is of vast consequence to have the 
faces expelled from the body as soon as nature 
indicates the necessity of it. On this delicate 
subject I must observe, that the faeces being 
too long retained, grow corrupt, irritate the 
intestines, and produce a morbid alteration in 
the mucus which lines their internal surface. 
The absorbents, from the preternatural dis- 
tention of the vessels into which they open, 
become abundantly more active; and, taking 
up the morbid matter, return it to the blood; 
where, circulating with the whole mass, it 
lays the foundation of incalculable mischief. 
Sometimes, by long retention of the faeces, 
the extreme state of tension in which the 
nerves have been held, renders them paraly- 
tic, so that the muscles to which they were 
distributed become incapable of obeying the 
dictates of necessity; hence, neither the so- 
lid nor fluid faeces can be expelled. The 
sphincter muscles, being kept long in a violent 
state of contraction, lose their elastic power. 
At other times a contrary effect is produced : 
the paralytic affection is so great, that the 
muscles become so completely relaxed, that 
the faeces cannot be retained for the or- 
dinary time: hence diabetes, and similar com- 
plaints. Most persons, after having suffered 
much through too long a retention of urine, 
have found the torment they at first expe- 
rienced abate; and, when a convenient time 
offered, have fruitlessly endeavoured to obey 
a command which nature no longer urged, 
16 



186 A Letter to 

What was the reason ? — Why, either nature 
(of two evils choosing the least) had caused 
the matter which could be no longer retained 
in its proper place, to be taken up by the ab- 
sorbent vessels, and thrown back into the 
blood; or the long-contracted muscles had now 
lost their distensive capacity, and the matter 
could not be expelled. 

9. I have proved this often through an ob- 
stinate attachment to some particular study, 
and through false delicacy. That I might be 
able fully to ascertain this matter, and the 
more effectually to warn others, even at my 
own expense, I have voluntarily submitted to 
repeat these experiments on myself. I can in 
consequence say, I advance no hypothesis on 
this subject ; and wish that all who read this 
paper would rather take my word for the fact 
than submit to the trial. I have only one re- 
mark to make on this subject : that, in respect 
to the urine, the absorbent vessels never take 
it up and return it into the circulation till the 
vessel in which it is lodged has been distended 
by a supernatural quantity to its utmost capa- 
city. Then the absorbents, becoming more 
active by pressure, take up the superabundant 
quantity, and soon restore it to the blood. I 
need not tell you that this matter was secreted 
from the blood at first, because it was injurious 
to it, and to the whole system ; and, that re- 
turning such a quantity back into the circula- 
tion must produce the most melancholy effects. 
A person who wishes to enjoy good health, 



A Preacher, $c. 187 

should have his regular and set times for those 
evacuations which nature dictates, as he has 
for his daily food. Regularity in observing a 
set time will soon produce a habit, which will 
prevent costiveness, and all its attendant evils. 
Who has not heard of the tragical death of the 
famous Tycho Brahe ? Being in the carriage 
with the Emperor Rodolphus II., his false de- 
licacy forbad him to obey the urgent demands 
of nature ; and the consequence was, the 'pre- 
mature death of one of the greatest philoso- 
phers in the universe.* 

) 0. These may appear to be small things ; 
but they are matters of the utmost importance. 
A constipation of the bowels, a stricture of the 
urethra, a diabetes, a contamination of the 
whole mass of blood, are dreadful evils which 
carelessness in the above respects may easily 
produce, and which due attention to the impe- 
rious voice of nature may fully prevent. 

li. You perceive I have recommended no 
medicine : 1st, Because none but an empiric 
would recommend any but in thepresence of the 
disorder, after having considered the state of 
the constitution, the combinations of disease, 
and a variety of local circumstances which 
might make the same mode of treatment impro- 
per in one case, the usefulness of which was 
strongly indicated in another. 2dly, Because 



* There are some very excellent observations on this 
head in that invaluable tract of M. Tissot ? entitled, " De 
?a Santfc des Gens de Lettres." 



IBS A Letter to a Preacher. 

I am not writing about the restoration of health, 
b u t a bout its p reservation . A n d , Sdly , B e c ■ • « 5 e 
1 believe nature, if she get fair play, will re- 
quire ver}' little medical assistance. 

12. Let not nature be impeded in the pro- 
cess of her work — Let her never be obliged 
to carry a burthen of meat, drink, or clothe — - 
Keep your head in general cool by day. inA 
moderately warm by aigkt — See : feet 

be always moderately warm and dry ; and 
at o kl all quack medicines as you would the pes- 
tilencev Let your m deration in all things be 
known TOto all ; the Lord is at hand. Finally, 
As your life, from the nature of your work, 
mu*t han ; ; «o constantly in doubt, live for eter- 
nity, and be every moment prepared to meet 
your God. Let this be your motto, and let 
your heart feel that it is true, 

For me to live is Christ ; to die, is gain. 

I leave these Advices with you; and ear- 
nestly commend you to God and the word of 
His grace, which is able to build you up, and 
give you an inheritance among all them who 
are sanctified ; and am, affectionately, 

Your companion in tribulation, 

And in the kingdom and patience of Jesus* 

ADAM CLARKE 



APPENDIX. 



A few Directions to the People relative to their 
profiting by the Ministry of the Word. 

Fathers and Brethren, 

HAVING ventured, through the medi- 
um of a junior brother, to give several Advi- 
ces to the Preachers, both local and travelling, 
relative to their success in declaring the tes- 
timonies of the Most High ; I shall now take 
the liberty of giving a few directions to you, 
how you may hear these Preachers so as to be 
profited. 

You will readily grant with me, that if the 
people do not hear in a proper spirit, the most 
eminent and faithful ministers may preach in 
vain. Let it be ever remembered that the 
great Bishop of souls, the Lord Jesus, who 
had every ministerial qualification in absolute 
perfection, preached the everlasting gospel to 
many who were not profited by it ; and that he 
departed from a certain place in which he could 
do no mighty works, because of the people's un- 
belief, Matt. xiii. 58. In this case it is mani- 
fest, that the fault could not be in the Preach- 
er, nor in the matter of his discourses, but in 
the hearers only. The grand business, there- 
16* 



190 Appendix. 

fore of the people is, to inquire in the most 
serious manner, how they are to bear, so as 
to be saved. 

1. Endeavour to get your minds deeply im- 
pressed with the value of the ministry of God's 
word. One of the most terrible judgments 
which God ever inflicted on the unfaithful 
Jews was, hiding their Preachers in a corner, 
and producing a famine of the bread of life.- — 
See Amos viii. 11, 12, i3. 

2. If possible, get a few minutes for private 
prayer before you go to the house of God, that 
you may supplicate His throne for a blessing 
on your own soul, and on the congregation. 

3. SS hen you get to the church or chapel, 
consider it as the house of God, the dwelling- 
place of the Most High : that He is there to 
bless His people, and that you cannot please 
Hina better than by being willing to receive 
the abundant mercies which He is ready to 
cornea u icate. 

4. Mingle all your hearing with prayer. — 
When the Preacher mentions any of the threat- 
£Diii.gs of Gods law, beg the Lord to avert 
them ; wl^n he mentions the promises, pray 
Goo instantly to fulfil them. When he des- 
cribes what a Christian should be. deter- 
mine, to set out afresh ; and let your heart im- 
mediately purpose, in the strength of God, to 
give up every evil way, and to follow Jesus. 

c. Hear with faith. Receive the Scriptures 

the words of God : and remember that you 

are not come to the chapel to reason about 



Appendix, 191 

them, but to credit them, God speaks, and 
His own authority gives absolute credibility to 
all that He says. Whatever He promises He 
is able and willing to perform : and if the bless- 
ing promised be requisite to you now ; why, 
now, this moment is the time in which God is 
ready to give it — here, nothiag can hinder, no- 
' thing injure you, but your unbelief. 

6. Receive the Preacher as the ambassador 
of God, sent particularly to you with a message 
of salvation — Listen attentively to every part 
of the sermon — there is a portion for you 
somewhere in it ; hear all, and you are sure to 
discern what belongs to yourself. 

7. Don't suppose that you know even all the 
outlines of the plan of salvation : there is a 
height, length, breadth, and depth in the things 
of God, of which you have as yet but a very 
inadequate conception. Every sermon will 
be a mean of discovering more and more of the 
wonders of God's grace to you, if you hear it 
in a proper spirit. 

8. Do not think that this or the other Preach- 
er cannot instruct you. He may be, compara- 
tively speaking, a weak Preacher : but the 
meanest servant of God's sending will at all 
times be directed to bring something to the wisest 
and holiest Christians which they have not ful- 
ly known or enjoyed before. You do not de- 
pend upon the man's abilities : if he be a 
Preacher of God's making, he is God's mouth; 
and by him the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of un- 



192 Appendix. 

erring counsel, of infinite wisdom, and eternal 
love, will speak to you. 

9. Never absent yourself from the house of 
God when you can possibly attend. Remem- 
ber, it is God that invites you, not to hear 
this or the other man ; but to hear Himself 
through his messenger, that you may be saved. 
Therefore, go to hear God speak ; and let who 
will be the Preacher, you shall never be disap- 
pointed. 

10. Consider how great the blessing is 
which you enjoy. What would a damned 
soul give for the privilege of sitting five mi- 
nutes in your place, to hear Jesus preached, 
with the same possibility of being saved ? 

11. Don't divide the word with your neigh- 
bour, hear for yourself; share your clothes, 
money, bread, &c. with him, but don't divide 
the word preached ; it belongs to you ; — it 
belongs to him; — every man may have his 
part by himself, but no man can hear for ano- 
ther. It is your enemy who says to you, " That 
suits such and such persona." It suits you 
perhaps more than them : if they are present, 
let them take it to themselves ; you are not 
your brother's keeper ; if they are not pre- 
sent, you have no business with them. 

12. Consider, this may be the last sermon 
you shall ever be permitted to hear ! There- 
fore, hear it as if it were your last; and you 
will hear it then to your unspeakable profit. — 
O hear for eternity at all times : remember 
the eye of God is upon you. 






Appendix. 193 

13. Consider, your being blest does not con- 
sist in your remembering heads, divisions, &c. 
but in feeling the Divine influence, having 
your eyes enlightened to see more of the 
worth of Christ, and the necessities of your 
own soul : — in having your heart invigorated 
with Divine strength, and your soul more de- 
termined to follow on to know the Lord. 

14. Don't despise or reject the ministry, be- 
cause it is not so excellent in every respect as 
you could wish. Be thankful that God give it 
to you such as it is : and remember, if he gave 
blessings according to your deserts, and accord- 
ing to your improvement, they would be such 
as would scarcely deserve to be sought for, or 
retained when found. 

1 5. If you believe the Preacher to be a holy 
man of God, don't find fault with him : you may 
depend upon it he feels his soul at stake ; and 
while he is in that awful place, the pulpit, 
strives with all the sincerity of his heart to do 
that solemn work in the very best way he can, 
and to the uttermost of hL power. 

16. After the sermrn is over, get as speedily 
home as you can, and spend a few moments on 
your knees in private, earnestly beseeching God 
to write indelibly on your heart what you have 
been hearing. 

17. Meditate on what you have heard : — At 
first, Divine ideas may be but slightly impress- 
ed — a little meditation often serves to deepen 
this impression ; therefore do not immediately 
begin to talk with any of your friends and ac- 



194 Appendix. 

quaintance ; the mind that was before collect- 
ed in itself to meditate on what was heard, be- 
comes hereby distracted ; and the fowls of the 
air pick up the good seed. 

18. As your Preachers have many trials pe- 
culiar to their work which you cannot know, 
and probably could not bear were they laid 
upon you ; take heed how you increase their 
load. Satan will harass them sufficiently : O 
let not God's people join issue with the great 
adversary, to distress the hearts of their teach- 
ers. 

19. They have left all for your sakes, and 
for the sake of the gospel : and if this all were 
only the anvil, the plough, the fishing-boat, or 
the carpenter's bench, it was their all, and the 
all they got their bread comfortably by ; and 
he who has nothing but a net, and leaves that 
for the sake of doing good to the souls of men, 
leaves his all : and remember that, in becom- 
ing the servant of all for Christ's sake, he often 
exposes himself to the want of even a morsel 
of bread. Let the proud and the profane exult 
and say, " Such preachers cannot be much 
injured by their sacrifice of secular property ; 
though they have left their all, that all was of 
little worth." Stop, friend, and take this max- 
im with you, that it may moderate your glory- 
ing : that man forsakes much who reserves no- 
thing to himself; and who renounces all ex- 
pectations from this world, taking what you 
would not trust to, God alone, for his portion.- — 
It is readily granted that the Preacher is a poor 



Appendix. 1 95 

man, and you are rich. But did he not enter 
into the world with as good prospects as you 
had ? and has not God furnished him with 
as much common sense, sound judgment, and 
other necessary accomplishments for business^ 
as you have ever possessed ? Had these been 
employed in trade, is there not a million to one 
he had been this day as rich as you are ? And 
had God honoured you with his vocation, and 
you had been as faithful and upright in it as 
he has been, would not you have been the 
poor man which to-day you despise ? Think 
of this, and be humble. 

20. Pray for your Preachers, that God may 
fill them with the unction of His Spirit, and 
make them messengers of peace to you. While 
Aaron and Hur held up the hands of Moses 3 
the Israelites prevailed over their enemies. 

21. Before I conclude, shall I be permitted 
to add one thing more ? Perhaps it may come 
better from one who has served you long, 
and who has never been chargeable or bur- 
densome to that good cause for which he has 
laboured; and who has reason to believe, from 
his increasing infirmities, that he shall not long 
be permitted to be either a blessing or a bur- 
den to mankind. Then, I say, make your 
Preachers comfortable. Men who have taken 
the other world for their inheritance, will ex- 
pect no more than the bare necessaries of life 
in this. Let the Stewards of every Society 
examine the provision which is made for their 
Preachers and families : let them consider the 



196 Appendix. 

time in which it was fixed, the depreciation ©f 
money, and the enormous advance in every 
article of consumption : and by comparing the 
requisite expenditure of the family in question 
with that of their own, allowing for the de- 
scending or ascending proportions, let them 
determine on such a provision as their pru- 
dence and piety may dictate. From a pretty 
general acquaintance with the Methodists, I 
can confidently assert, that wherever there is 
a deficiency of support for the Preachers and 
their families, it is where the Societies are ut- 
terly ignorant of the matter; for, wherever 
such grievances are brought before them, they 
are instantly redressed. There are very few 
Preachers who will complain, let them suffer 
what they may : the Societies commit the bu- 
siness into the hands of the Stewards; they 
should not wait for complaint or information 
from the Preacher, but investigate every cir- 
cumstance themselves. To such I say, and to 
all who are concerned with them, never suffer, 
through your neglect, worldly cares to intrude 
themselves into the closets and hearts of the 
men w r ho are labouring for your salvation. 
How can he preach comfort who is not com- 
forted ? And how can he be comforted, who 
has pressing wants in his family, which he has 
no power to relieve ? Give his children bread, 
and the man of God will cheerfully lay down 
his life in his work; and when he is gone to 
his God and your God. you will be enabled, 
without compunction of heart, to say, He who 



Appendix, 1 97 

preached unto us Jksus, by whose ministry 
we were blessed, and to whose necessities we 
have had the privilege of contributing, is 
gone ! — gone to live with God; aud we shall 
soon rejoin him where the whole heavenly fa- 
mily shall know each other in the light of their 
God !• Even so, Lord Jesus ! Amen. 

That we may all so preach and hear, as to 
glorify God, and be finally saved, is the sincere 
prayer of your affectionate servant in the gos- 
pel of Christ, 

ADAM CLARKE. 



17 



FOUR 



DISCOURSES 



ON THE 



DUTIES OF A MINISTER 

OF THE GOSPEL. 



BY THOMAS COKE, LL. D. 

Of tbe University of Oxford. 



NEW-YORK: 

PUBLISHED BY N. BANGS AND T. MASON, FOR THE 
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

William A. Mercein, Printer, 
1 320, 



PREFACE, 



X HE work of the ministry must be ac- 
knowledged by all who believe the truths 
of Revelation, and hope for happiness be- 
yond the grave, to be the most important in 
which a human being can possibly engage. 
It extends, in its effects and consequences, 
beyond the boundaries of time, and involves 
the future happiness or misery of millions, 
by leading them to felicities or woes which 
baffle all our calculations. 

The political decisions of senates may af- 
flict nations with calamity, or deliver them 
from it ; but the good and evil which they 
administer, must terminate with the present 
life. It is not so with the ministry of the 
gospel. The effects which result from the 
pious or unfaithful labours of those who act 
as ambassadors for God, may, indeed, be 
perceived in every stage of human proba- 
tion ; but they will appear more conspicious 
17* 



PREFACE. 

as life draws towards a close : — they will 
remain unextinguished at death, and as- 
sume, in eternity, a visible and parmanent 
form. 

The man who engages in this solefrm 
work, is not merely accountable to God for 
his own soul, but becomes responsible also 
for the souls of those who have been com- 
mitted to his care. The sacred writings 
have guarded his office with the most awful 
sanctions. Both promises and threatenings 
conspire to keep alive his hopes and fears 9 
by holding out, in the most pointed lan- 
guage, the rewards or punishments which 
await him in a future world. On the one 
hand, we are assured that "they who turn 
many to righteousness, shall shine as the 
stars for ever and ever;" while, on the 
other, we are clearly informed, that " those 
watchmen who see the sword coming, and 
neglect to give the people warning, shall 
have their blood required at their hands. 5 * 

Impressed with these momentous reali- 
ties, the author of these discourses, having 
at an early period of life undertaken the 
sacred task, turned his thoughts to an ex~ 



PREFACE. 

amination of the various duties which be- 
came his station. In this survey, he saw 
them to be both numerous and diversified, 
blending and incorporating themselves with 
every department of life ; and he was soon 
convinced, that nothing but a strict attention 
to these varied connexions, could preserve 
that consistency of character which should 
always distinguish the heralds of everlast- 
ing peace. With an eye to this end, occa- 
sional incidents became his monitors ; — real 
life furnished him with many instructive 
lessons ; — and experience and practice have 
since confirmed him, in his adherence to 
obligations which were first adopted from 
principle. These discourses may, there- 
fore, be considered as the result of practi- 
cal observation, rather than of learned in- 
quiry; and of real experience, rather than 
of deep reflection. 

But, though the author turned his atten- 
tion to this subject in the manner that has 
been hinted, and for reasons that have been 
assigned, he had no design to publish his 
thoughts to the world. This originated in 
another circumstance. 



PREFACE. 

Having been called upon, occasionally* 
to preach before the Methodist Confer- 
ences, where the great bodies of Preachers 
belonging to the connexion were assem- 
bled, he could not but express his ideas of 
the nature of the gospel ministry, and ad- 
vert to the duties which should be sustain- 
ed, by all those who conscientiously engage 
to preach Christ, and him crucified. The 
approbation with which his views were re- 
ceived, particularly in America, induced 
many, who heard his observations, to solicit 
their publication ; from a persuasion that 
they might prove as useful in the closet, as 
they had been satisfactory to those who had 
received them from the pulpit. 

These importunities he, however, for a 
long time withstood; till in crossing the 
Atlantic Ocean on one of his voyages, the 
pages now presented to the reader assumed 
nearly their present form, undergoing such 
amendments and corrections, and receiving 
such additions, as were thought necessary 
to prepare them for the public eye. A train 
of favourable circumstances concurred dur- 
ing the voyage to facilitate the completion of 



PREFACE. 

the author's undertaking. He was seclu- 
ded from the world, had nothing to fear from 
interruption, — was going on a ministerial 
errand, — and had with him the works of 
some French authors, particularly those of 
M. Massillon, the pious bishop of Meaux, 
whose views on the subject were congenial 
with his own. 

Thus circumstanced, he began to arrange 
his thoughts ; but found, as he proceeded, 
that what he had originally compressed into 
a single discourse, actually branched itself 
into four; no part of which he could possi- 
bly retrench, without doing injustice to a 
subject that he was endeavouring to eluci- 
date, or rejecting that assistance of which 
he was anxious to avail himself. In years 
that are past, he trusts, that these sermons 
have been rendered a blessing to many ; 
and, as truth is not to be impaired by age, 
he has reason to hope that their republi- 
cation will continue to be attended with the 
divine blessing. This is his primary in- 
ducement to send a new impression of them 
into the world. He feels confidence that 
the leading features of the ministerial cha- 



PREFACE. 

racter and duties, are delineated agreeably 
to the doctrines of the gospel, as he endea- 
voured in every part to take the Prophets 
and Apostles for his guides. Relying, 
therefore, on the promises of Him who has 
declared that the gates of hell shall not 
prevail against his Church, he commits this 
little book to the world, with an earnest 
hope that God will make it a blessing t© 
many souls. 

That the united exertions of all wh© 
faithfully labour in the patience and tribu- 
lation of Jesus, may lead to the universal 
spread of the gospel, till a nation shall be 
born in a day, and till all shall know God, 
from the least unto the greatest, is the sin- 
cere desire and earnest prayer of 

THE AUTHOR. 

May 24, 1S1G. 



DISCOURSE I; 



2 TIMOTHY iv. 1—5. 



I charge thee, therefore, before God, and the 
Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick 
and the dead at his appearing, and his king- 
dom : preach the word; be instant in season, 
out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with 
all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time 
will come, when they will not endure sound 
doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they 
heap to themselves teachers, having itching 
ears; and they shall turn away their ears from 
the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 
But watch thou lib all things, endure afflic- 
tions, do the, work of an evangelist, make full 
proof of thy ministry. 



PART I. 

1. TL HE ministerial office is the most impor- 
tant to the human race of any which is exer- 
cised on earth : for, according to the order of 
the dispensation of grace, the preaching of the 
gospel is indispensably necessary to raise man- 
kind out of the ruins of their fall, to deliver 



208 Coke on the Duties 

them from all the miseries which spring from 
an everlasting banishment from God, and to 
bring them to the eternal enjoyment of Him 
the Sovereign Good, at whose right hand are 
pleasures for evermore. 

The ministers of the gospel are particularly 
charged with these high interests of mankind: 
they are like those angels, whom Jacob beheld 
on the sacred ladder, ascending and descending 
to and from heaven : they are the mouth of 
the congregation at the throae of God, and 
open the bosom of his mercies upon the mise- 
ries of man. They officially speak in the name 
of Christ, whom the Father always hears. 

2. In a word, my brethren, a faithful minis- 
try is the greatest blessing God can bestow 
upon a people : it is the greatest he ever did 
bestow, except the gifts of his Son, and of his 
Spirit. What were the peculiar blessings, 
which the Lord promised by his prophets to 
the Israelites, if they would turn to him, and 
obey his laws ? Were they not the conquest 
©f nations, the entire destruction of their ene- 
mies, the final period of all the miseries and 
calamities which afflicted them, and a country 
which flowed with milk and honey for their 
own habitation ? These were the magnificent 
promises he made them; and yet they prevail- 
ed not upon them to yield obedience to the 
divine law, nor restrained them from prosti- 
tuting their homage to the gods of the hea- 
then. He then ceased to press upon them 
these promises, which were so flattering, and 



Of the Ministry. 209 

so likely to operate on the minds of a people 
who in general were influenced by worldly 
motives; but it was to make them one promise 
more, which was a thousand times greater and 
more precious than all the rest: " Turn, O 
" backsliding children, saith the Lord, and I 
" will give you pastors according to mine 
heart, which shall feed you with knowledge 
and understanding."* 

3. " Raise then in thy church, O most gra- 
cious Lord, a sufficiency of faithful pastors ac- 
cording to thine heart; and particularly call 
forth from our connexion chosen vessels to 
carry the savour of Christ's name to all peo- 
ple; and, in separating them for the work of 
the ministry, separate them also for the sancti- 
fication of those to whom they may be sent. 
We do not so much request the end of any 
trials or calamities which afflict us ; we 
ask not favourable seasons, abundance or 
prosperity ; we only request a sufficiency of 
holy ministers who will die by thy cause, 
and with them thou wilt give us all things 
else." 

4 If we thus consider the gospel in the 
light of tbe sanctuary, we shall not be sur- 
prised at the awfulness of the charge which 
the Apostle, in my text, gives to Timothy, 
his spiritual son : " I charge thee before God," 
the Omnipotent Jehovah, who sees and marks 
every word and action of our live3, who trie* 

* Jer. iii. 14, 15. 
18 



210 Coke on the Duties 

the heart and reins; from whom no covert can 
screen us, no darkness hide us; " but the night 
" shineth as the day; the darkness and the 
«' light are both alike"* to him. I charge thee 
also before " the Lord Jesus Christ," your 
Redeemer, who shed his blood for you, and 
for the souls intrusted to your care : before 
him whose minister you are, and to whom you 
must account for the use or abuse of all your ta- 
lents : Before him " who shall judge the quick 
" and the dead at his appearing, and his king- 
" dom :" Before whose awful bar you must 
stand in the presence of an assembled uni- 
verse, when he shall appear on his throne 
with all the splendour and glory of the King of 
kings, to establish the eternal reign of his 
saints, and to banish all evil ones, and all evil, 
from the glory of his power for ever : when 
thou, O Timothy, shalt receive the exceeding 
great reward of thy faithful ministry, or the 
greater condemnation which awaits the abuse 
of the most precious gifts which can be in- 
trusted to man. 

Let us now proceed to the particulars of the 
Apostle's charge, omitting to enlarge upon the 
reasons which he gives in the 3d and 4th verses, 
as they primarily respect the people, and 
would lead us into too large a field of dis- 
course. 

I. 1. First, " Preach the word" — the word 
of God, which is able to save the soul. You 

* Psalm cxxxix. 12. 



Of the Ministry. 211 

are not ignorant, my brethren, what multitudes 
of immortal beings have been brought by this 
divine word " from darkness to light, and from 
" the power of Satan unto God." In those 
happy moments when a whole congregation 
has been softened by this quickening fire, and 
the hearts of the people all opened to receive 
the word, a single expression has pierced to the 
quick, and produced its full effect. Hundreds 
of thousands in the course of the present re- 
vival have been enlightened by it, and have 
been undeceived concerning the abuses and 
pernicious maxims of the world, which they 
once thought innocent, because authorized by 
the common usage of mankind, or by the 
preaching of blind guides. Innumerable have 
been the profanations and disorders which have 
been prevented; and innumerable the precious 
souls which have been drawn out of the abyss 
of misery and sin, in which they had so long 
lain. It is impossible for any, but God, to 
number up the cries of compunction which 
have arisen from awakened hearts, or the holy 
desires inspired into them. Scores of thou- 
sands have been brought to God, and estab- 
lished in grace, who either have been safely 
lodged in Abrahams bosom, or are now living 
witnesses of Christ's power to save. It is im- 
possible to enumerate the graces and blessings 
which have been conferred upon the world, 
and especially upon these kingdoms, by the 
means of the present revival. Surely, it may 
be said of every faithful minister, as it was of 



212 Coke on the Duties 

his Lord, that ;< he is set for the rising again 
" of many in Israel. "* 

2. The good which one single minister, true 
to the cause in which he has engaged, can do 
in the course of his life by a faithful ministry 
of the word, is not easily to be described : 
How many of the ignorant he may instruct, 
how many Meepy consciences arouse, how 
many daring sinners confound; how many 
mourners he may bring into the liberty of 
the children of God, how many believers 
confirm in grace, yea, lead into the enjoy- 
ment of perfect love ! Blessed be the Lord, 
we have had our ministers, who were form- 
ed according to the model of Jesus Christ, 
according to his simplicity, his unction, his 
sacred zeal. We have had our Wesl^ys, 
our Fletchers, our Grimshaws, and our 
Walshes. Every thing was borne down by 
their holy eloquence, and by the power of the 
Spirit of God, who spoke through them. The 
villages, the towns, the cities, could not re- 
sist the impetuosity of their zeal, and the 
eminent sanctity of their lives; the tears, the 
sighs, and the deep compunction of those 
who heard them, were the commendations 
which accompanied their ministry : The strict- 
ness of their manners left nothing for the 
world to say against the truths which they 
delivered : The simplicity of their spirit, and 
the gentleness of their conversation and con- 

* Luke ii. 34. 



Of the Ministry, 213 

duct towards others, but severity towards 
themselves, belied not the gospel of which 
they were ministers : Their examples in- 
structed, persuaded, and struck the people 
almost as much as their sermons : And the 
Spirit of God, who inflamed their hearts, the 
divine fire with which they themselves were 
filled, spread itself through the coldest and 
most insensible souls; and enabled them al- 
most every where to raise chapels, temples 
to God, where the penitents and believers 
might assemble to hear them, and each return 
inflamed like themselves, and filled with the 
abundance of the Spirit of God. O what good 
is one apostolic man capable of working upon 
earth ! There were no more than twelve 
employed to begin the conversion of the 
world. 

3. Elijah, ascending to heaven, and leav- 
ing his spirit of zeal to his disciple Elisha, 
was designed as a type of Jesus Christ; who, 
after he had ascended to the right hand of the 
Father, sent down on his disciples that spirit 
of zeal and of fire, which was the seal of their 
mission ; by which they were to set on fire 
and purify the world, and carry to all na- 
tions the knowledge of salvation, and the love 
of truth and righteousness. Scarcely are they 
thus filled with the Holy Spirit, but these 
men, before so timid, so careful to hide them- 
selves, to withdraw themselves from the fury 
of the Jews, leave their retreat like generous 
lions, know danger no more, bear in their 
18* 



214 Coke on the Duties 

countenance an intrepidity in the way of duty 
whidi sets at defiance all the powers of the 
earth, boldly bear their testimony for Christ 
before the assembly of chief priests, and de- 
part from the council, rejoicing to be thought 
worthy to suffer reproach for Jesus's holy 
name. 

4. Judea cannot satisfy the ardour and ex- 
tent of their zeal. They pass from city to 
city, from nation to nation; they spread them- 
selves to the extremities of the earth; they 
attack the most ancient and most authorized 
abuses; they tear away from the most barba- 
rous people, the idols which their ancestors 
had at all times adored. They overturn the 
altars, which continual incense and homage 
had rendered respectable; they preach up the 
reproach and foolishness of the cross to the 
most polished nations, who piqued themselves 
most upon their eloquence, philosophy, and 
wisdom. The obstacles which all things pre- 
sent to their zeal, instead of abating it, only 
give it new force, and seem every where to 
announce their success : the whole world con- 
spires against them, and they are stronger than 
the world : crosses and gibbets are shown them, 
to put a stop to their preaching; and they an- 
swer, that they cannot but declare what they 
have seen and heard; and they publish on the 
house-tops what was confided to them in se- 
cret: they now expire under the axe of the 
executioner : new torments are invented to 
extinguish with their blood the new doctrine 



Of the Ministry. 215 

which they preach; and their blood preaches 
it still more after their death; and the more 
the earth is watered with it, the more does she 
bring forth new disciples to the gospel. Such 
was the spirit of the ministry and apostleship 
which they received, for these are in some 
sense but one and the same : every minister 
of the gospel is an apostle and ambassador of 
Jesus Christ among men. O that God would 
increase the number of those who are willing 
to preach and to die for Jesus Christ! — 
" Preach," then, " the word." 

II. But I proceed to the second particular 
contained in the Apostle's charge: "Be in- 
stant in season, and out of season ; reprove, 
rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doc- 
trine." 

1st. Be always ready and always zealous for 
the public duties of your office. 

1. You are perhaps afraid of dissipation of 
mind, and of all the unavoidable dangers to 
which your zeal will expose you ; but it is this 
fear, which, through grace, will support you 
under them : we cannot fill our office with fide- 
lity and safety without possessing much of this 
holy, filial fear. You think yourself unworthy 
of a ministry so holy and so glorious ; but it is 
this sentiment itself, which makes you evan- 
gelically worthy of it. No one can exercise 
it in a manner worthy of God, who does not feel 
himself extremely unworthy of it. You have 
a taste perhaps for retirement ; but is this the 



216 Coke on the Duties 

taste or the rule which should determine your 
duties ? Are you become a public minister, that 
you should live to yourself alone ? Indeed, 
your taste for retirement, if properly used, 
and duly restrained, will, under the blessing of 
God, assure the success of your public labours. 
Perhaps you are diffident concerning your gifts; 
but is it not a great gift to possess an ardent de- 
sire for the salvation of souls ? With a heart 
penetrated and inflamed by this desire, a mi- 
nister will always succeed ; it is in some de- 
gree a substitute for other talents : What shall 
I say ? It forms them in him. Whereas, with 
the most shining talents, without this tender 
love for souls, this apostolic zeal, we are but 
sounding brass and tinkling cymbals. Only 
put yourselves into the hands of those who 
are appointed to govern ; they will employ 
you according to your gifts and strength ; it is 
not in you that in this instance it appertains to 
judge. Blessed be the Lord, the field is va- 
rious ; they will find out for you the place 
which suits you ; and if nature has not bestow- 
ed on you all the powers of oratory, the grace 
of God, and the spirit of the missionary, will 
give you every thing necessary. 

2. Let us all, fathers and brethren, remem- 
ber, that whatever be our talents, whatever be 
our views, we are essentially wrong, if we 
suffer them to lead us out of the path of duty, 
or the order of our station. We are com- 
manded to " be instant in season, and out of 
season :" a minister, therefore, must perish in 



Of the Ministry. 217 

the inutility of a life of retirement and repose; 
the duties of his ministry, and the wants of the 
church of God, permit him not to enjoy them. 
11 Nothing is more opposed," says St. Chrysos- 
tom. " to the spirit of the ministry to which 
the church of Christ has joined us, than a 
quiet and retired life, which many errone- 
ously regard as the kind of life the most sub- 
lime and perfect." No, my brethren, nothing 
is safe for us- but that which God requires of 
us. True devotion is not the work of human 
taste and caprice ; it is a divine fruit, and al- 
ways in the order of God. The distrust of 
ourselves is a great virtue, when it makes us 
more attentive to the fulfilment of our duties; 
but it is an illusion, a vice, when it draws us 
from them. 

3. Let us now, my brethren, in concluding 
this division of our subject, call to mind the 
different sources from whence arises the defect 
of zeal in ministers of the gospel. Indeed, 
we cannot too often set them before our eyes ; 
for they are the poisoned fountains, from 
whence flow all the evils of the church of 
Christ. The first is, the love of this world 
and its conveniences : no sooner does every 
thing commodious in the present ilfe offer 
its tempting baits, but with too many that 
fire of zeal, that flame of love for the salvation 
of souls, vanishes away like the morning-dew, 
to the astonishment of the discerning beholder. 
The second is, a defect of the love of God : it 
must be nearly extinguished in our hearts, if 



2 1 8 Goke on the Duties 

we can daily behold the disorders, and infide 
lity, which continually dishonour the name and 
holy religion of our God, without embracing the 
most effectual method, if we be really called to 
the ministry of the word, to stem the torrent. 
The third is, a defect of love to mankind : for 
can those who are chosen of God to tlje great 
work of snatching immortal spirits out of the 
burning, love them, andyet calmly see them pe- 
rish ? The fourth is, such a respect for men as 
makes us seek their friendship and esteem at 
the expense of truth; I mean, that baseness of 
spirit, which ties our tongues before them, 
and makes us prefer our own glory, and our 
own interests, to the love of Christ and the in- 
terests of his church. Fortitude, disinterest^ 
edness, a holy generosity, a wise and heroic 
firmness, are the constant fruits of the true 
ministerial grace and office ; and if these sen- 
timents be effaced from the heart of a minister, 
the grace of his vocation is utterly extinct. 
The fifth is, the indulgence of some secret vice; 
for what true zeal can that preacher have 
against the vices of the world, who indulges 
himself in any secret sin? The sixth is, a dull, 
lukewarm spirit : zeal is a holy fervour, which 
gives its first attention to ourselves. Alas ! 
he, who can indulge in himself a stupid lethar- 
gic spirit, will make but a miserable reprover 
of the deadness of devotion which he ob- 
serves in others. Th.e seventh, and last, is a 
timid and misinformed piety. Some refuse to 
devote themselves wholly to the work of the 



Of the Ministry. 21$ 

ministry, or give it up when they hare enter- 
ed upon it, through a pious delusion. They 
make piety itself a pretext to dispense with 
the rules of piety : they are afraid to lose their 
own souls ; but they are not afraid to lose the 
souls of those whom they are called of God to 
be the instruments of saving. They believe 
they ought to fly from those dangers, to which 
the order of God, and of the church to which 
they belong, calls them : and this flight is the 
only danger of which they are ignorant, and 
yet the greatest they have to fear. 

4. In short, my brethren, it is in vain that 
our morals are otherwise irreprehensible : it 
is not sufficient to lead a prudent and regular 
life before the eyes of the world : if we be 
not penetrated with a lively sorrow at seeing 
the lost estate of the souls around us ; if we 
do not arm ourselves with the zeal of faith and 
love, and with that sword of the Spirit which 
is the word of God, to bring them out of their 
ways of error ; if we do not exhort them 
" with all long-suffering and doctrine ;*' if we 
be not " instant in season and out of season ;*? 
if, content w T ith our own fancied righteousness, 
we imagine ourselves safe in reproving and re- 
buking by our examples, or, like old Eli, in 
only softly condemning the vice of others ; 
our pretended virtue or holiness, indolent, in- 
active, lethargic, is a crime, an abomination 
before God : we feel not ourselves charged 
with the interests of God upon earth ; we live 
only for ourselves; we are no more ainbam 



220 , Coke on the Duties 

dors of Jesus Christ; we are easy, useless 
spectators of the reproaches cast upon him 
and his holy religion ; and, by our silence and 
insensibility, consent to the crimes, and are 
partakers of the guilt, of those who crucify 
him afresh. No, my brethren, let us not de- 
ceive ourselves ; for, as I have already said, 
and must repeat again, however well-regulated 
the life cf such a minister may seem, he has 
but the appearance of piety ; he has not the 
foundation and truth of it : he seems to live, 
but he is dead in the sight of God : men per- 
haps may praise him, but God curses him : the 
regularity of his life now lulls him to sleep ; 
but a terrible sound, and the clamours of the 
souls which he suffered to perish, shall one 
day awaken him thoroughly : he calms hi& 
mind, because he bears a cold dry testimony in 
favour of evangelical truths ; or because he 
compares the regularity of his life with that of 
many others called ministers ; but he shall one 
day see that his righteousness was but that of 
a Pharisee, and shall in the end be ranked with 
the hypocrites and unprofitable servants.* 

5. Ah! What, my brethren! A minister of 
Jesus Christ, sent to do his work upon earth, 
to enlarge his kingdom, to advance the build- 
ing of his eternal city — for him to see the reign 
of the devil prevail over that of Jesus Christ 
in the place or places where he labours ; and 
his faith, his love, his pretended piety to suffer 

# Matth. xxv, 30. 



Of the Ministry. 221 

him to be quiet and at rest ! Can a minister of 
the gospel hear the name of Jesus, and the 
truth as it is in Him whose place he fills, and 
whom he professes to love and honour, daily 
derided or denied by word or deed, and not 
be filled with zeal for the cause of his great 
Master so opposed 1 What shall I say ? Cer- 
tainly he would speak with the authority which 
the dignity of his office always gives him, and 
endeavour to. inspire sentiments more worthy of 
religion in those perverse corrupted men : or, 
he would be a base coward, a prevaricator, a 
minister who betrayed his ministry, if a crimi- 
nal insensibility, or a carnal or timid prudence, 
could on such occasions shut his mouth : And 
he all this time believe himself innocent of the 
blood of souls ! Can a faithful shepherd see his 
sheep precipitate themselves into the abyss, 
without running after them, and making them 
at least to hear his voice ? Nay, when a sin- 
gle sheep had wandered, he would traverse 
the mountains, and endure the most painful 
toils, to bring him back again on his shoulders.* 
No, my brethren, the man just now described 3 
is not a shepherd, not a minister of Jesus 
Christ ; I reclaim the name ; he is an usurper, 
who falsely bears that honourable title ; and,, 
notwithstanding all his profession, has wilfully 
made himself a vessel of reprobation and 
shame, placed in the temple of God ! 

* Luke xv. 
19 



222 Coke on the Duties 

6. But it may be urged, that a travelling 
preacher in our connexion is responsible only 
for the societies under his care. The objec- 
tor must certainly have forgot, or never have 
read, the rules of a preacher, which we have 
all so solemnly promised to obey. The ele- 
venth runs thus : " You have nothing to do but 
to save souls. Therefore spend and be spent 
in this work ; and go always not only to those 
that want, but to those that want you most. — 
Observe ! It is not your business, only to preach 
so many times, and to take care of this or that 
society, but to save as many souls as you can ; 
to bring as man}' sinners as you possibly can to 
repentance, and, with all your power, to build 
them up in that holiness, without which they 
cannot see the Lord." 



PART II. 

2dly. — A faithful minister of the gospel will 
be " instant" for the cause of his great Master, in 
every company into which he may happen to fall. 

I. Our manners, our walk, our language, our 
whole exterior conduct, should upon all occa- 
sions support the holy dignity of our calling. 
The most accustomary familiarities of the 
world, the discourses of pleasantry the most 
entertaining, are for us real indecencies : all 
that is unworthy of our ministry, is at all times 



Of the Ministry. 223 

unworthy of us. Some ministers persuade 
themselves, that it is necessary to accommodate 
themselves to the taste, the language and max- 
ims of the world, that they may not appear bad 
or morose company : but remember, my bre- 
thren, a minister is never in his place, whilst 
he suits the taste of the world ; never, unless 
he be what is called bad company for the world. 
From the time that the world seeks him, 
adopts him, associates with him, and is pleased 
with his company, he gives a certain proof, 
that he respects not the propriety and decency 
which should invariably accompany his office. 
And we may continually observe, that those 
ministers whom the world seeks, whom the 
world applauds, and with whose company the 
world in general is delighted, are carnal men, 
who have reserved nothing of their holy voca- 
tion but the name: the spirit of the world shows 
itself in their whole exterior deportment ; it 
discovers itself in the impropriety of their 
dress, in the lightness of their conversation, 
and even of their walk ; nay, often in the little 
true gravity and sanctity manifested in the per- 
formance of their public duties. " If ye were 
of the world," says Christ, " the world would 
love his own : but because ye are not of the 
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, 
therefore the world hateth you.'* No, my 
brethren, the men of the world seek not the 
company of a holy and respectable minister ; 

* John xv. 19. 



224 Coke on the Duties 

nor is he desirous of associating with them.— 
It is, when they want consolation under afilic- 
tion : it is, when the approaches of death make 
them feel themselves near to eternity : Ah ! it 
is then they have recourse to a holy minister ; 
they then regard not those of whom they were 
before so fond ; they are then conscious that 
such ministers can be of no service to them, 
that they may be good for the things of the 
world, but are useless as to the things of hea- 
ven. Depend on it, my brethren, it always 
costs us something of the dignity and holy gra- 
vity of our office, to purchase the friendship 
and suffrages of men of the world : it is not 
they, who will abate of their prejudices and 
false maxims to unite themselves to us ; it is 
zve only, who must abate of the holy rules of 
the gospel, to be admitted to their societies. 
Let us then never lay down before the eyes of 
the men of the world the holy gravity of our 
vocation, or the due and respectable appear- 
ance of a minister of Jesus Christ: let them 
not be able to distinguish between the minister 
in the pulpit, and the minister in his usual 
commerce with mankind. Let them find him 
throughout the same ; throughout respecting his 
character, and making it respectable to others; 
throughout discovering the spirit of piety, yea, 
even by his presence alone. 

2 Then, my brethren, if we be at any time 
witnesses of those vices which the customs of 
the world justify, we have a right to condemn 
them. If the people of the world, whether 



Of the Ministry. 225 

rich or poor, indulge themselves before us in 
such discourses as are but too common, and 
which offend either piety, Christian love, or 
modesty, our character authorizes us to re- 
prove them. Nor will the world in general 
find fault with us, if we endeavour to sanctify 
their conversations with pious edifying re- 
marks; for, as it is somewhere observed in the 
Apocrypha, the Lord has dispersed us among 
the Gentiles, among the people of the world, 
who know not God, that we may make known 
the wonders of his holy law. No, my brethren, 
it does not become a good minister to depart 
from the company of the people of the world, 
without having mixed with their discourse 
some spiritual and edifying reflections. When 
a minister is duly touched with the truths he 
preaches; when he daily meditates upon them 
at the footstool of the throne; when he is pe- 
netrated with an ardent holy desire for the sal- 
vation of souls, it will be difficult for him to 
see them wander and perish, without at least 
complaining to them, without taking occasion 
from their errors and prejudices to say to them 
some word of salvation. And how know you, 
but a simple and edifying reflection, delivered 
at a time when he expects it not, may become 
to your brother a word of eternal life ? He 
may be on his guard, if he hear you in public, 
and come prejudiced against the truths you are 
delivering, but in a familiar conversation truth 
takes the sinner unawares. Candour, meek- 
ness, and simplicity, with the grace of God, 
19* 



226 Coke on the Duties 

will sometimes, in private discourse, give to a 
truth, when least looked for, a strength which 
it would not otherwise have. The unforeseen 
arrow is the most sure to reach its mark. At 
least, jou have done honour to your ministry, 
and been faithful to that command of God, 
" Be ye holy in all manner of conversation." 

3. When I entered on this division of my 
subject, I only intended to touch it cursorily. 
But considering the magnitude of it, and how 
seldom it has been fully treated, I afterwards 
determined to enlarge. And need I here re- 
mind you, brethren, of that peculiar charac- 
teristic of the Methodists, that they are a race 
of reprovers. It is their reproach, it is their 
honour, it is the glory of the cross they bear, 
that every Christian, of every sect and party, 
who dares become a reprover of vice, is im- 
mediately stigmatized with the name of Me- 
thodist. May we never lose that cross, that 
glory, till vice is banished from the world, and 
" the earth is full of the knowledge of the Lord, 
as the waters cover the sea I" 

4. " But is there not reason to fear, that by 
becoming thus importunate, we shall often ex- 
pose the truth to the contempt and derision of 
those to whom we speak V 9 No, my brethren. 
A dissipated worldly preacher, I allow, could 
but with an ill grace introduce observations of 
a spiritual nature into the conversations of 
people of the world. He has by his yain con- 
duct lost his right. He would render himself 
ridiculous indeed, if he should labour to recall 



Of the Ministry. 227 

to the minds of others, truths which he him- 
self appears to have forgot. The doctrines 
of piety would blush in his mouth ; he would 
be heard with contempt; and might be asked 
with a sneer, " Is Saul also among the Pro- 
phets ?"* But, on the contrary, a holy mi- 
nister gives respectability to all his wise and 
edifying counsels; the men of the world them- 
selves will grant him attention, and, even if 
tired, will not be surprised; they may reject 
the truth, but must in secret esteem him who 
declares it. 

I grant, that this duty, as well as every thing 
else, should be guided by Christian prudence. 
Christian love, which only desires to be useful, 
labours to find out the most opportune mo- 
ments; and many such will present themselves 
in the course of the useless conversations of 
the men of the world. They speak together 
of their affairs, their projects, their embar- 
rassments, their subjects of complaint against 
their enemies or competitors, of their disap- 
pointments, and of their misfortunes. Now, 
cannot the Spirit of God, which actuates a holy 
minister, find in all this, innumerable occa- 
sions to deplore the sad and agitated life of 
those who love the world; to describe to them 
the peace, the sweetness, the consolations of 
a holy Christian life; and to mourn over them, 
as enjoying no genuine happiness in the pre- 
sent life, but preparing for themselves in this 

*lSam.x. 11, n. 



228 Coke on the Duties 

world a thousand disturbances, a thousand 
pains, and misery eternal in the next ? 

5. On the other hand, ray brethren, there 
are occasions, when the fear of offending should 
be entirely banished. A minister of the gos- 
pel is a public character, charged with the in- 
terests of the glory of God, and the honour of 
religion, among men : he ought, therefore, 
never to suffer men of the world, whoever they 
maybe, to pass without a bold, though holy, 
reproof, when the respect due to the majesty 
of God is wounded, when the precious and 
sublime doctrines of the gospel are treated 
with derision, when vice is justified, or holi- 
ness and virtue turned into ridicule : in short, 
when licentiousness or impiety in discourse dis- 
honours the presence of God, and the presence 
of his ministers. Ah ! It is then that the piety 
and dignity of a minister should no more pre- 
scribe to him any other measure or bounds but 
that of zeal — the zeal which is the flame of 
love, mixed with the just indignation of a lover 
of God. It is then, that, charged by his office 
with the interests of religion, he should know 
no one after the flesh ; he should forget the 
names, the titles, the distinctions of those who 
forget themselves ; he should remember, that 
he is appointed of God a preacher of right- 
eousness, and endued with power from heaven 
to oppose all manner of sin ; and, especially, 
to set himself with a sacred intrepidity against 
that impious and detestable pride, which would 
exalt itself against the knowledge of God. — 



Of the Ministry. 229 

Whatever persons they be, who do not treat 
with respect in your presence that which is 
the most respectable of all things in the uni- 
verse, should not be respected by you : we 
ought to hear them with that kind of indigna- 
tion, with which we believe Christ himself 
would have heard them. I am persuaded, that 
the pointed strength of reproof is the only kind 
of propriety which our character then im- 
poses upon us; we are not then required to use 
soft expressions, " Nay, my son, it is no 
" good report that I hear." Whether they 
will hear, or whether they will forbear, we 
should deliver our own souls. 

It is esteemed honourable by the world, to 
support the interests of a friend pointedly and 
boldly, if he be insulted in our presence. — 
Have we then at such a time a right to impose 
silence with firmness on the calumniator ? Shall 
we disgrace ourselves, and be accounted treach- 
erous, yea, base and dastardly cowards, if we 
can suffer our friends to be abused in our pre- 
sence without undertaking their defence ? And 
shall we not have the same zeal to stop the 
mouths of the impious, and support aloud the 
interests of Jesus Christ ? Can we imagine 
that we are his friends, according to that saying 
of our Lord, " Henceforth, I call you not ser- 
vants, but I have called you friends ;"* — can 
we suppose that we have performed all which 
that tender and honourable title requires, by 

* John xv. 15. 



230 Coke on the Duties 

dissembling, — by contenting ourselves with 
strengthening through our dastardly silence 
the insults with which he is treated, and by 
sacrificing, through a dishonourable weak- 
ness, through the fear of man, his name and his 
glory ? No, my brethren, we are not the friends 
whom Jesus Christ has chosen— this title dis- 
graces us, if his insulted name does not rouse in 
us all our love and all our zeal for his adorable 
person. 

6. O that I could impress these important 
truths with the fullest conviction upon all our 
hearts ! What a flame would soon be kindled 
in the world ! What could not a thousand tra- 
velling preachers in Europe and America do 
for their Master, if all were thoroughly filled 
with this spirit of holy zeal ! But should we 
confine our observation to these alone ? Cer- 
tainly, our local preachers, exhorters, and 
even our leaders, are in their respective de- 
grees called to reprove, rebuke, and exhort. — 
The whole together probably make not less than 
fifteen thousand lights to illuminate the world. 
O that they were all faithful. " O God, inspire 
them all with the love of thy glory !" Yes, fa- 
thers and brethren, I know and rejoice in the 
mighty good which has been wrought upon 
the earth by your instrumentality : but you 
may still do abundantly more : yea, we might 
all of us have already been much more useful 
than we have been. "Lord, humble us before 
thee for our past unfaithfulness." 



Of the Ministry. 231 

7. But I must here observe, brethren, that 
a minister faithful to his duty, who respects 
his office, and loves the people intrusted to his 
charge, will find but little time to sacrifice to the 
useless conversations and dissipated spirit of 
the world. He seldom appears among the 
people of the world ; for having no taste for 
their pleasures or amusements, or even for 
their company, the unavoidable calls of duty 
or propriety which require him to be among 
them, are but rare. We cannot often be in 
their company, without not only injuring the 
divine life within us, but more or less debasing 
ourselves and our sacred office in their eyes. 
All corrupt as the world which lieth in the 
wicked one is, it exacts from us virtue without 
spot, without clouds, and even without any of 
those infirmities which are inseparable from 
humanity. 

8. The more the world is indulgent to itself, 
the more severe it is in respect to us : it be- 
lieves that it may indulge itself in every thing, 
and yet in us will pass over nothing. It has 
perpetually upon us the eyes of malevolent 
censors. A word out of order, a simple in- 
attention, the least motion which may be con- 
strued into impropriety, a compliment paid 
without due reflection, become in us faults 
which will not soon be forgotten. The men of 
the world, if possible, will give a shade to all 
our words and actions ; draw from them the 
most invidious consequences ; and even in 
those moments when we relax ourselves ia 



232 Coke on the Duties 

their favour from the gravity of our character, 
they will attribute the whole to a taste of their 
spirit, and to a secret approbation of their 
yiews which we dare not avow, rather than to 
condescendence and complaisance towards 
them. They will at last be bold enough to 
tempt us to imitate them in the liberties they 
take ; will treat our precautions and reserve 
as the fruits of a minute and contracted spirit ; 
and for the little we abate in the dignity of our 
character for the sake of pleasing them, they 
will in our absence pay our complaisance with 
the most insolent derisions and dishonourable 
reflection's. 

9. There is nothing, therefore, my bre- 
thren, more deceitful than the idea of gaining 
the esteem and good opinion of the world, by 
familiarizing ourselves and mixing often with it. 
The more the world sees us, except in our 
public duties, the more will it either hate or 
despise us. It hates us from the instant it feels 
that we will not put up with its manners. Let 
us very rarely have any thing to do with it, 
and we shall appear in its eyes with greater 
dignity, and be treated with greater respect. 
Let us attend to every due and proper call 
which the world may justly require of us, as 
well as to all the demands of charity and good 
works ; but let us always conduct ourselves as 
the ambassadors of Jesus Christ, as in some 
sense filling his place. It is then only, that 
our ministerial character, under the grace and 
providence of God, will be to us a safeguard 



Of the Ministry. 233 

against very temptation. But if we seek the 
world for the sake of the world, we must,con~ 
form to its taste and its manners. We should 
be badly received upon the present ground, 
were we to carry there that holy gravity which 
should never forsake us. We should derange 
its pleasures, disconcert its assemblies, and its 
liberty of speech. We should be an intolera- 
ble burden to it. Our presence alone would 
be horrible ; and it would say of us, as the 
enemies of holiness say of the righteous man 
in the Wisdom of Solomon, " He is grievous to 
us to behold !" There is no alternative. We 
must die to the world, or partake of its spirit. 
We cannot serve God and Mammon. 

10. I am very conscious, brethren, that our 
Itinerant Plan is to be preferred to any other 
in this as in a thousand respects. We are sel- 
dom tempted to be in the world. We must 
love it exceedingly if we find many occasions 
to be in it. Our time is spent -betwixt the 
mount, the multitude, and our own people. 
We almost continually reside in families which 
look for, and which love and honour, the seri- 
ousness and gravity of their preacher. It is 
their delight to converse with us on the things 
of God : if it were not so, they would be dis- 
graceful members of our Society. Yes, it is 
food to the souls of our people to have what 
they have heard in the pulpit pressed upon 
them in conversation at the tire-side : and we 
should be the most inexcusable of men, if we 
did not improve these precious opportunities 
20 



234 Coke on the Duties 

among the families we visit. " The Method- 
1st Preachers," said the late Rev. Charles 
Wesley to me once, .*.' do not fully consider all 
the blessings of their situation ; one of the 
greatest of which," added he, " is that wall of 
contempt, with which you are surrounded, and 
which preserves you from a thousand tempta- 
tions to which the clergy in general are expo- 
sed, by keeping the world at a distance from you." 
But though our calls to mix with the men of the 
world are but rare, let us never on such occa- 
sions betray our Master, but conduct ourselves 
as faithful servants, ambassadors, and friends 
of Jesus Christ. 

II. I may sum up the whole in those words 
of the Apostle, " But thou, O man of God, flee 
these things, and follow after righteousness s 
godliness, love, patience, meekness."* If you 
were of the wcrld, its interests, its prejudices^ 
its vanities, would be your portion : You would 
be obliged to conform to its maxims and lan- 
guage, to justify it, and to rise up against all 
those who dare condemn it : but you are men of 
God ; you are in the world, but you are not of 
the world : You are charged in the midst of it 
with the interests of God, with the care of his 
glory, and with the honour of his spiritual wor- 
ship. The ambassador of a king speaks only 
in the name of his employer : he knows no 
other man, whilst he acts from the authority, 
and is concerned with the interests, of the 

* 1 Tim. vi. H. 



Of the Ministry. 235 

kingdom he represents : he lays aside the pri- 
Tate character, and appears always in his pub- 
lic capacity. And shall ta>e, brethren, who are 
ambassadors for the King of kings, men of God 
in the midst of a world which is at war with 
him — Shall we lay aside our holy and public 
character with which he has invested us, and 
become men of the world , his enemies friends ? 
Shall we blush to speak the language of him 
who employs us ? Shall we suffer him to be 
insulted in our presence without supporting 
his interests and his glory — without using the 
authority with which he has clothed us, to set 
ourselves with a holy zeal against the despi- 
sers of his name, his laws, and his truth ? Shall 
we, my brethren, forgetting the majesty of him 
we represent, and the honour he has confer- 
red upon us by intrusting his embassy and au- 
thority to us — shall we authorize by our con- 
duct the maxims of the world, his enemy ? 
Shall we appear to hold intelligence with it, 
that its errors and prejudices may prevail over 
his divine doctrines and sacred morals, of 
which he has made us the public dispensers 
and defenders ? No, my brethren ; let us bear 
our holy title of men of God, as it were upon 
our foreheads, and through all the minutest 
particular of our conduct : Let us throughout 
be men of God: Let all our most common ac- 
tions, conversation, fellowship, and commerce 
with mankind, be ennobled and sanctified by 
this holy and honourable character : Let us 
never abase ourselves by laying it aside for a 



236 Coke on the Duties, 4"c. 

moment ; and let us remember, that the world 
will always respect it in us, as long as we re- 
spect it in ourselves. 

12. Destroy, then, O our God, in the hearts 
of thy ministers the strength of all those obsta- 
cles which tbe world, the flesh, and the devil, 
incessantly oppose to that zeal, which renders 
them instruments of thy mercies to mankind : 
inflame them with that spirit of fire and wis- 
dom, which thou didst shed abroad in the 
hearts of thy first disciples ; let the succession 
of this apostolic zeal be transmitted with in- 
creasing abundance in thy church, with the 
succession of that ministry which thou hast pro- 
mised to be with always, even unto the end of 
the world. * Send forth more labourers into 
thy vineyard, men " mighty in deed and word," 
whom the world may not intimidate, whom all 
the powers of the earth may not be able to 
shake, whom worldly interests may never in- 
fluence, whom thy glory and the salvation of 
souls may regulate and animate in all their un- 
dertakings ; and who will esteem the opinions 
of men as nothing, but as far as they contri- 
bute to make thee adored and glorified in all 
ages ! 

f Matt, xxviii. 20. 



DISCOURSE II. 



2 TIMOTHY, iv. 5. 

Watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do 
the work of an evangelist, make full proof of 
thy ministry. 

PART I. 

IN my discourse on the former part of the 
Apostle's charge to Timothy, I considered the 
zeal, which the ministers of the gospel should 
constantly manifest for the salvation of souls ; 
particularly, in all the public duties of their 
office, and by the improvement ef every oppor- 
tunity afforded them, to bear a testimony for 
God to the people of the world. We now pro- 
ceed to speak upon the remaining particulars 
of this solemn charge. 

I. "Watch thou in all things." The duty 
of watchfulness cannot be too strongly impress- 
ed on every private Christian ; for, without 
the constant exercise of it, the life of God can- 
not possibly be preserved in the soul. But to 
enlarge on the duty as it respects the private 
character, would carry me beyond the limits 
of a discourse ; and, therefore, I shall chiefly 
consider it, as it belongs to the office of ami= 
nister of the gospel. 

20* 



238 Coke on the Duties 

The spirit of our ministry is a spirit of se- 
paration from the world ; of prayer and secret 
intercession for the souls of men, and espe- 
cially for the church of Christ ; of labour ; of 
firmness and fidelity ; of knowledge ; and of 
piety. Our watchfulness, therefore, as minis- 
ters, should be particularly directed against 
those things which oppose the above essen- 
tial properties of the spirit of our calling. 

1st. Against the spirit of the world, because 
the spirit of our ministry is a spirit of separa- 
tion from the world. 

1 . That unction from above, which reserves 
us, sanctifies us, sets us apart for the ministry, 
(and if we have not received it, we are no mi- 
nisters,) withdraws us also from all the other 
public functions of society ; not that we cease 
from being citizens of our country, or from the 
obedience and submission due to the king, and 
all that are in authority — to the powers which 
are ; for " the powers which are, are ordained 
of God :"* but the ministry of the word is be- 
come our great employment ; the public tem- 
ples ofGod, "where his honour dwelleth," are 
our places of public resort ; the visitation of 
the sick and the poor, and all the other works 
of piety and charity, our subordinate task^ and 
prayer and praise our recreation and pleasure. 

* Rom, ml 1, 



Of the Ministry. 239 

2. All things then should be holy in a minis- 
ter of the gospel, and separated from common 
use. His tongue should only discourse of God ; 
useless conversations at least, however harm- 
less in themselves, defile his tongue ; as, un- 
der the law, a holy vessel would have been de- 
filed by common meats. His eyes have enter- 
ed into covenant not to behold vanity ; or if 
they do, they lose, without genuine repentance, 
the right of entering into the interior of the 
tabernacle, to behold the glory of God in the 
face of Jesus Christ In short, the whole per- 
son of a minister of Christ should be a living 
example of true religion, which ought always 
to be surrounded with decency, gravity, and 
respect. 

3. This then is the first point — to watch 
against the desire of worldly things : for the 
cares, the solicitudes, the employments of the 
world, when you enter into them, will rob 
you of your unction, however your natural or 
improved talents may remain ; and will not 
only profane, but in time entirely destroy all 
the genuine virtue of your vocation, and bring 
you thoroughly under the yoke of the world. 
The vessels and ornaments which were used 
in the temple under the law, were never ap- 
propriated to common use ; it would have been 
a crime which would have defiled their con- 
secration : now a minister of the gospel, con- 
secrated to God by his own blessed Spirit, in a 
manner infinitely more holy than that of the 
sacred vessels and ornaments under the law;, 



240 Coke on the Duties 

defiles and profanes abundantly more his con- 
secration, if he makes his person, his talents, 
his spirit, his heart, to serve to dead works 
and the common employments of the world. 
O thou holy doctrine of the cross, how lit- 
tle art thou known by those ministers, who 
enter into the affairs, agitations, and com- 
motions of this miserable world ! The Apostle 
has warned them in vain, that " no man who 
warreth, entangleth himself with the affairs of 
this life ; that he may please him who hath 
chosen him to be a soldier."* Alas ! These 
become principal actors on the stage of the 
world. The dispensers of the truths and bless- 
ings of Heaven become the ministers of carnal 
views and projects : those whom God has 
charged with the eternal interests of the peo- . 
pie, neglect them, and make it their glory to 
spend their strength in carrying on worldly af- 
fairs. 

2dly. We must watch agotinst the light and tri- 
fling spirit of the world, because the spirit of our 
ministry is a spirit of prayer and intercession. 

Although it is the privilege of a faithful mi- 
nister to have a river of peace continually 
flowing in his soul, yet, paradoxical as it may 
appear, his life, at the same time, is a life of 
prayer, lamentation, and complaint. The pro- 
phet Isaiah, en a prophetic view of the great 
Millennium, " when all flesh should come to 

* 2 Tim. ii. 4. 



Of the Ministry, 241 

worship before the Lord," cries out, " Re- 
joice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, 
all ye that love her; rejoice for joy with her, 
all ye that mourn for her."* When we see so 
large a part of the inhabitants of the globe ly- 
ing in the wicked one, covered with Heathen 
or Mahometan darkness; or, what is still worse, 
when we see infidelity reigning in the midst of 
the blaze of gospel-day, it is impossible, if we 
breathe the true spirit of the gospel ministry, 
but we shall be daily, yea, habitually praying 
between the porch and the altar, with groan- 
ings which cannot be uttered. t Jesus Christ, 
the Prince and model of ministers, wept over 
Jerusalem, when he saw her hardened in her 
blindness. Yes, my brethren, as long as Satan 
reigns upon earth, the true ministers of God 
will more or less mourn and lament. As long 
as the children of Israel, on the plain, employ 
themselves in dances and revels, forget the 
God of their fathers, and madly prostitute their 
homage to the golden calf, the true Moseses 
on the mountains will tear their garments — 
will break their hearts before the Lord. " The 
world will rejoice," says Christ to his Apos- 
tles : its children will run on dancing and 
sending forth cries of joy, till they precipitate 
themselves into the abyss. Let their laughter 
and their sports be their portion : let that ho- 
ly sorrow which is consistent with constant 
joy in the Holy Ghost, be ours. The world, 

* Is. lxvi 10. 23. t Joel ii. 17. Rom. viii. 26. 



242 Coke on the Duties 

in the midst of which we live, will be conti- 
nually to us a spectacle of grief and concern; 
and even when they persecute as not, though 
crosses and gibbets do not attend us, their en- 
tire depravation will itself alone be an unex- 
hausted source of lamentation before God ! 

3dly. We must watch against indolence, be- 
cause the spirit of our ministry is a spirit of 
toil. 

1. We fill a laborious office. The church 
of Christ upon earth, is a vineyard, a field, a 
harvest, a building which should be daily rising 
and growing to perfection, and a holy war- 
fare — all terms which announce cares and fa- 
tigues, all symbols of labour and application. 

2. Thus the time of a minister of the gospel 
is due to the church : All the days and mo- 
ments which he employs in the commerce of 
the world, in dissipation, or in the vanities of 
worldly society, except where occasional du- 
ties call him, are days and moments which were 
due to the salvation of his fellow-creatures, 
and of which those souls which suffer through 
his neglect will demand a strict account at the 
tribunal of Jesus Christ. By the divine unction 
he has received, and by his devotion of him- 
self to the ministry, the church of Christ has 
acquired a peculiar property in his person, 
his leisure, his occupations, and his talents. 
These are all now consecrated things, which 
form, part of the property of the church of 



Of the Ministry. 243 

God. He is only the depositary of them, and 
has no right to dispose of them at his plea- 
sure : he is responsible for them to God and . 
his church. It is not for himself, that he has 
been numbered among the ministers of Christ, 
but for the church, that he may bear his part 
in her toils and ministry. He degrades the 
title she has given him, when he abandons the 
labours she has appointed for him : he ceases 
to be a minister, from the moment he ceases 
to be a labourer : He spends in worldly com- 
merce and frivolous occupations that time, on 
which rolls the salvation of the souls among 
whom he should have toiled — that time, on 
which depends the eternal destiny of his bre- 
thren — that time, to which God has attached the 
salvation of sinners, the strengthening of the 
weak, and the perfecting of the strong. " May 
the Spirit of the Holy One increase our 
zeal!" 

4thly. We must watch against the betraying of 
eur trust — against unfaithfulness, because the 
spirit of our ministry is a spirit of firmness and 
fidelity. 

1. We are appointed to " reprove, rebuke, 
exhort, in season and out of season, with all 
long-suffering and doctrine." The public 
vices should always find us inflexible, inexora- 
ble. The countenance of a minister of Christ 
should never blush at the reproaches, which 
never fail to accompany the liberty and faithful 



244 Coke on the Duties 

execution of his office. He bears written on 
his forehead, with much more true majesty 
than the High Priest of the law, Holiness to 
the Lord.* The divine unction which the 
Spirit of God has bestowed upon him for the 
ministry of the gospel, is a grace of strength 
and courage : It inspires the soul marked by 
this divine zeal, with an heroic disposition, 
which raises it above its own natural weakness; 
which puts into it noble, great, and generous 
sentiments, worthy of the dignity of its minis- 
try ; and gives to it an elevation of mind, 
which raises it above the fears, the hopes, 
the reputation, the reproaches, and every 
thing else, which rule over, and regulate the 
conduct of the generality of men : Yea, which 
bestows upon us that ministerial vigour, and 
Apostolic fire, which so gloriously manifested 
itself in the first founders, and first heroes of 
our divine religion. 

2. Now this spirit of firmness and fidelity is 
precisely the character the most opposed to 
the spirit of the world. For the spirit of the 
world is continually shown in a commerce of 
attentions, complaisance, art, and management : 
it seems to have hardly an opinion of its own : 
It can overlook, if not applaud, an improper 
sentiment covered with art and delicacy : It 
can bend, yea, accustom its ears to the witty, 
but cruel touches of smooth malevolence ; 
and can suffer, without reproof, rebuke, or 

* Exodus xxviii. 36 



Of the Ministry. 245 

exhortation, the preference which is daily 
given to the gifts of nature over those of 
grace. In short, the minister (so called) who 
will live in the bustle of the world, must 
think, or at least speak, as the world does : 
He must not discover the firm and serious 
spirit of a minister of God : If he did, he 
would soon become its butt and its laugh; 
and all his worldly plans would be entirely 
defeated. No : We, who should be the salt 
of the earth, would in such ease be obliged 
to lend oufselves, to accommodate ourselves, 
and putrify with the children of this earth. 
We, who are called to be the censors of the 
world, would soon become in some sense its 
panegyrists : We, who should be the lights of 
the world, would, by our open suffrage, or by 
our base dastardly silence, perpetuate its 
blindness : In short, We, who should be in- 
strumentally the resource and salvation of the 
world, would miserably perish with it. 

3. Nothing, my brethren, so softens the 
firmness and fidelity of the ministerial spirit, 
as the busy commerce of the world. We ea- 
ter by little, and imperceptibly, into its preju- 
dices, its excuses, and all its vain reasonings. 
The more we meddle with it, the less we find 
it culpable. We can at last even plead for its 
softness, its idleness, its luxury, and its ambi- 
tion. We begin, like the world, to give soft 
names to all these passions and indulgences; 
and that which confirms us in this new system 
of conduct, is, that we have the universal 
21 



246 Coke on the Duties 

plaudit of worldly men; for they will give to 
our baseness and cowardice the specious 
names of moderation, elevation of spirit, and 
a talent for making virtue amiable; whilst they 
give to the contrary conduct, the odious names 
of littleness, rusticity, excess, and hardness 
of heart, only fit to withdraw men from good- 
ness, and render piety hateful or contempti- 
ble. Thus we treat obligingly a world, which 
gives our baseness and unfaithfulness all the 
honours due to prudence; and we believe it 
not to be so guilty as is commonly imagined 
among believers, from the time we love its 
esteem. For, alas ! my brethren, there are 
too few of the Sauls and Barnabases, who 
would not relax from the truth, though they 
thereby caused themselves to be stoned even 
by those people, who, a few moments before, 
would have dffered incense to them as gods 
just descended from heaven ! 

4. The spirit of ministerial firmness and 
fidelity is therefore absolutely imcompatible 
with the busy commerce of the world : You 
will no more find any thing there to reprove, 
in proportion as you familiarize yourselves 
with those things which are reprehensible in 
it : You will lose the views of those great rules 
of conduct, which have governed the faithful 
ministers of God in all the ages of the church : 
You will no longer cultivate those seeds of di- 
vine science, which, through grace, have help- 
ed to make you useful in the Lord's vineyard : 
The scriptures, and the writings of the best di~ 



Of the Ministrij. 247 

vines, will become strange and tiresome : You 
will soon have lost your taste for them ; and 
you will prefer to those serious studies, so 
conformable to your ministerial duties, books 
which, to you, should be comparatively vain 
and frivolous ; but which render you more 
serviceable and agreeable to the world to which 
you have delivered up yourself. These ob- 
servations lead me to a fifth reflection on this 
head ; namely, that, 

5thly. We should watch against a neglect and 
distaste of study, because the spirit of our minis- 
try is a spirit of divine science. 

1. The lips of a minister of the gospel are 
the public depositaries of the doctrines of di- 
vine truth : We are required, like the prophet, 
to devour the book which contains the law and 
the gospel, notwithstanding all the bitterness 
which may accompany our studies and watch- 
ings : We must nourish our souls with the 
bread of the word of God, as it were by the 
sweat of our brow ; and adorn our souls inter- 
nally with the divine law, as the Jewish priests 
adorned themselves externally with their sa- 
cred garments. The divine writings are the 
basis and substance of our gospel ministry, 
which we may compare to the two great lights 
which God has set in the firmament : Like them 
we should rule over the day and the night ; 
over the day, in guiding the faith and piety of 
believers ; and over the night, in clearing our 



248 Coke on the Duties 

minds from all darkness of error, and filling 
them with spiritual light. We are the chief 
interpreters of the divine law and gospel, the 
guides of the people, the seers and prophets 
appointed by Christ to clear their doubts, and 
from the divine word to discover to them the 
whole will of God. 

2. But can these titles be supported in the 
hurry of worldly commerce ? Alas ! nothing 
is so fatal as that to a taste for study and retire- 
ment. I am not now speaking of profound stu- 
dies, of sounding all the depths of antiquity for 
the elucidation of the doctrines and discipline 
of Christianity, or of furnishing the church of 
God with new and useful publications • these 
are not the things which the spirit of your 
vocation exacts from you : these are stu- 
dies and talents manifested in an eminent de- 
gree by only a small number of the wisest mi- 
nisters; whom God has raised up to be general 
lights of their age. But 1 say, that for those 
common, ordinary studies, which are indispen- 
sably necessary to qualify a minister to " di- 
vide the world of truth aright, and to give to 
each their portion of meat in due season ;" in 
short, to be in a situation to exercise his func- 
tions with light and success : I say, that for 
these studies, he must have a spirit accustom- 
ed to think, to meditate, and to be with and in 
himself; he must fly from that commerce with 
the world, which soon annexes to his books a 
weariness which is insupportable ; he must 
have a desire of increasing in divine know- 






Of the Ministry. 249 

ledge ; a character of mind, which is an enemy 
to frivolous employments ; a habit of retire- 
ment and reflection ; an arrangement of life, 
whereby he can give an account to himself of 
his progress, and whereby the moments set 
apart for the different duties of his situation 
will always find themselves in their own place, 
and conformable to their destination; in a word, 
a kind of uniform, occupied, regulated life, 
which can in nowise have the least alliance 
with the perpetual rariations and derangements 
of a worldly life and conversation. 

6thly, I shall finish this head with one re- 
flection more ; namely, that we should -watch 
against the least alienation of our minds from 
God, because the spirit of our ministry is a spirit 
of piety. 

1 . By this spirit of piety, I understand not 
only blamelessness of morals, but that condour 
of conscience, that tenderness of religion, that 
taste of God, that delicacy of soul, which the 
appearance alone of evil alarms. Behold that 
spirit of piety, which is the soul and safeguard 
of our ministry ! 

2. We live, as it were, in a continual com- 
merce with holy things. But what a life of 
prayer, of retirement, of circumspection, of 
faith, and of rigorous attention to the senses, 
ought we not to lead, that we may be always 
prepared for our holy duties ! All the disposi- 
tions, desires, and affections of our hearts, 
should be purified, sanctified, consecrated by 
the unction of the Holy Spirit, residing within 

21* 



250 Coke on the Duties 

us. How can we appear before the congrega- 
tion of the Lord, in their name to raise our- 
selves up to the footstool of the eternal throne, 
there to humble ourselves with the dominions 
and powers of heaven into a sort of self-anni- 
hilation, there to sing praises with them to 
the majesty of God, when just before we were 
drawn a hundred different ways through the 
dirt of the world ? How can we in such case 
ascend the pulpit, and manifest to the people 
all the seriousness and grief of true zeal ! 
With what grace can we speak of a death to 
the world, of avoiding the dangers to which it 
exposes us, and the snares which Satan there 
lays in our way, of the necessity of prayer, 
retirement, and watchfulness, of the eye which 
should be plucked out, of the hand and foot 
which should be cut off,* of the account we 
must render even for every idle word,| and in 
short of all those crucifying maxims, so un- 
known to the world, and so contrary to its 
manners ? To be good preachers of Jesus 
Christ, and of him crucified, we must our- 
selves be fastened to the cross of Jesus Christ: 
To inspire a taste of God, and the things of 
heaven, we must feel them ourselves : To 
touch the hearts of the people, our own hearts 
must be touched with the living coal. 

3. I grant, as observed in my former dis- 
course, that our itinerant plan keeps us at acon- 
siderable distance from the world in general. 
But among the families which we visit, are 

• Matt, xviii. 8, 9. f Matt. xii. 36. 



Of the Ministry. 251 

there not, in most of them, some who do not 
make even a profession of religion ? How 
cautious should we then be, that we do not 
enter into their spirit, thereby hardening 
them against the truth, and injuring the minds 
of those who are truly religious ! And of our 
own people, alas ! all are not Israel who are 
of Israel. To such, instead of indulging them 
in their vain conversation, how closely, how 
faithfully should we speak, as being peculiarly 
responsible for their souls ! If in a family there 
be any mourners in Zion, how dangerous, how 
dreadful would it be f©r such to hear any thing 
trifling from the lips of him, to whom they 
are looking for a word of comfort ! No time 
can be lost in labouring to bring such to Christ. 
All reading and study should be laid aside, 
whilst the opportunity is afforded us of lead- 
ing to the Saviour's blood an immortal soul 
under the convincing operations of the Holy 
Spirit. Such occasions should be peculiarly 
prized — occasions of fixing jewels of the high- 
est value in our crown of glory, for " they 
that turn many to righteousness, shall shine as 
the stars for ever and ever."* Again, When 
we meet with souls which enjoy the love of 
God, how careful should we be to feed them 
with spiritual food, — how careful to say nor- 
thing which might injure the tender spiritual 
life within them, or grieve that Holy Com- 
forter who has thus far brought them on their 

* Dan. xii. 3. 



252 Coke on the Duties 

way to heaven! But, especially, when we 
meet with those who have drank deep of the 
waters of life, and live in close fellowship with 
God, then we should improve the precious mo- 
ments for the welfare of our own souls; and 
from their spiritual observations learn more to 
enlarge in our public addresses on the most 
important of all subjects, Christian experience. 
Here is a field of action ! Here are opportu- 
nities for doing good ! What mighty privileges 
do we enjoy as travelling preachers ! " May 
the Lord enable us to improve them to the 
uttermost, for his glory and the salvation of 
millions !" 

4. But I must here observe, once for all, 
that these discourses are addressed only to mi- 
nisters of the gospel. The private members 
of the church of Christ have a different call- 
ing ; and if they improve the means which 
the Lord affords them, he will preserve them 
in the midst of all their business ; and use 
many of them in their respective stations in 
his church for the advancement of his king- 
dom upon earth. One grand truth which I 
have been labouring to establish is this, — that 
when any receive a full call to the ministry, it 
is their duty to sacrifice every secular employ- 
ment to it ; and if not, that the divine unction 
which they received for their office — that pe- 
culiar apostolic spirit which, according to their 
measure, was bestowed upon them, and which 
none can comprehend but those who possess 
it, will soon be extinguished ; and they them- 



Of the Ministry. 253 

selves will incur the guilt of unfaithfulness to 
the vocation of God, in the high office to which 
he has called them, or in which he has been 
pleased to station them. 



PART II. 

/ now proceed to consider the next grand par- 
ticular in the Apostle's charge to Timothy : 
"Endure afflictions." 

1. We have reason to bless God, that we 
are not called to suffer like the faithful minis- 
ters of Christ in former ages. A spirit of ci- 
vil and religious liberty has accompanied even 
the spirit of infidelity ; whereby the enemies 
of revelation have, in a considerable degree, 
disarmed and incapacitated themselves from 
injuring the church of God ; and the earth 
has been made in a wonderful manner to help 
the woman.* We have succeeded to the mi- 
nistry of that noble army of martyrs, who suf- 
fered " for the witness of Jesus, and for the 
word of God,"| and we are sent forth like 
them as sheep in the midst of wolves." J No 
thanks are due to our opponents, if we be 
not persecuted like our predecessors. If we 
had reason, like the martyrs of old, to fear 
the barbarity of the enemies of our religion— 

* Rev. xii. 16. f Rev. xx. 4. f Matt. x. 16. 



Coke on the Duties 



if the most cruel torments were the only re- 
compense we could promise ourselves in this 
life for all our zeal and labours, we also should 
be brought to the alternative of renouncing 
Jesus Christ, and the sacred ministry with 
which he has honoured us, or to face these 
dangers with a holy joy . But on the contrary, 
what in comparison have we to suffer ? Only 
the insults occasionally of the vilest of the 
people, which will not touch even the skirts 
of our clothes, if we suffer them not to affect 
our hearts ; and those crosses, which are indis- 
pensably necessary to keep us at the feet of 
Jesus Christ, and to render us fit instuments 
for his service, who will not give his glory to 
another. 

2. If we will be disciples, much more mi- 
nisters of Christ, we must daily take up his 
cross. — Without this, he refuses to acknow- 
ledge us as his disciples, or to make us parta- 
kers of that glory, into which he entered not 
himself but by the way of the cross. " Who- 
soever doth not bear his cross, 1 ' says Christ, 
" and come after me, cannot be my disciple."* 
" If [we be] children," says St. Paul, " then 
heirs ; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with 
Christ ; if so be that we suffer with him, that 
we may be also glorified together."! 

1st. But, perhaps, you will say, I am too weak 
to endure afflictions." Alas ! It is because we 

* Luke xiv. 27. f Rom. viii. 17. 



Of the Ministry. 255 

are weak ; because the least disappointment 
in our favourite pursuit makes us revolt against 
the will of Providence ; because contradiction 
raises our anger, or commendation and success 
our vanity and pride, that the Lord sees it ne- 
cessary we should pass through tribulation and 
trials. 

2. In short, What is it to be weak in the pre- 
sent sense of the word ? It is, to love our- 
selves excessively : it is, to live more by na- 
ture than by faith : it is, to suffer ourselves to 
be conducted by the vivacity of our own natu- 
ral inclinations, and not by the wisdom from 
above. Now, with this excessive fund of self- 
love, if the Lord were not to manage our 
weakness, and to humble us by affliction ; if he 
did not strike our bodies with some habitual 
languor, to render the world insipid to us ; if 
he did not prepare for us some losses in our 
substance ; if he did not defeat some of our 
most favourite projects ; if he did not place us 
in such situations, that the most trying and yet 
unavoidable duties should fill up our happiest 
hours ; if he were not to raise up against us 
opposition by false brethren or by true bre- 
thren : *n a word, if he were not to iix be- 
twixt us and our weakness, some kind of bar- 
rier, which might be strong enough to arrest 
and retain us, we should soon be deceived by 
our false peace and prosperity ; we should 
soon be without a bridle for ourselves or our 
desires. The same weakness and self-love 
which makes us so sensible of trials and afflic- 



256 Coke on the Duties 

tions, would make us still more sensible of, and 
less prepared for, the dangers of pleasure and 
prosperity. 

3. If, therefore, we be discouraged under 
trials and afflictions, let us not endeavour to 
excuse ourselves, by saying we are weak. The 
weakness of our hearts arises only from the 
weakness of our faith ; the soul of a Christian 
should be a strong soul, proof against persecu- 
tions, reproaches, infirmities, and death itself. 
The Christian may be oppressed, but he can- 
not be subdued ; you may snatch from him his 
goods, his reputation, his whole fortune, yea, 
his life itself; but you cannot rob him of the 
treasure of faith and grace, which lies at the bot- 
tom of his heart, and abundantly compensates 
for all his frivolous and temporary losses : you 
may, perhaps, make him shed tears of sensibi- 
lity and sorrow, for religion does not extin- 
guish the feelings of nature ; but his heart in 
an instant resists, disavows as it were his weak- 
ness, and turns even his tears into tears of pi- 
ety. What shall I say ? A Christian rejoices 
even in tribulations ; he regards them as marks 
of the benevolence and watchful providence 
of his God, as precious sureties of future pro- 
mises, and as the happy characters of his re- 
semblance of Jesus Christ. 

4. All the precepts of the gospel require 
strength from above ; and if we have not suffi- 
cient to support the crosses which the Lord is 
pleased to lay upon us, we have not sufficient 
for those other duties which the gospel pre- 



Of the Ministry. 257 

scribes. It requires strength of grace to par- 
don an injury ; to speak all the good we can of 
those who calumniate us ; or to hide the de- 
fects of those who would destroy our reputation 
or usefulness. It requires strength of grace 
to fly from a world which allures us ; to snatch 
ourselves from pleasures, or to oppose incli- 
nations, which would draw us into evil ; to 
resist customs to which the usage of the world 
has given the authority of laws, or to use pros- 
perity in a Christian spirit. It requires 
strength of grace to conquer ourselves ; to re- 
press the rising desire ; to stifle the pleasing 
sentiments ; continually to recall to the strict 
rules of the gospel, a heart which is so given 
to wander. In short, were we to review all 
the precepts of the gospel, there would not be 
one, which does not suppose a strong and gene- 
rous soul, fortified by grace. Throughout, it 
is necessary that we do violence to ourselves. 
The kingdom of God is a held, which must be 
cleared and rooted up ; a vineyard, in which 
we must bear the heat and burden of the day ; 
a career, in which we must perpetually and 
valiantly tight the battles of the Lord. In a 
word, the whole life of a true disciple of Jesus 
Christ bears the character of the cross ; and if 
we lose for an instant this strength of grace, 
we fall. To say then that you cannot endure 
afflictions because you are -weak, is to say that 
you are destitute of the spirit of the gospel. 

5. But, besides this, my brethren, however 
weak we may really be, we should have a con- 
22 



258 Coke on the Duties 

fidence in the goodness of our God, that he wili 
never prove, afflict, or try us beyond our 
strength ; that he always proportions the afflic- 
tions to our weakness ; that he gives his chas- 
tisements, as he does his judgments, in weight 
and measure ; that in afflicting he wills not to 
destroy us, but to purify and save us, and 
qualify us for greater usefulness in his church ; 
that he who aids us, himself bears the crosses, 
which he himself imposes upon us ; that he 
chastises us as a father, and not as a judge ; that 
the same hand which strikes us, supports us ; 
that the same rod which gives the wound,brings 
the oil and the honey to soften it. He knows 
the character of our hearts, and how far our 
weakness goes ; aad, as in afflicting us, his will 
in Christ Jesus is our sanctification,* he knows 
how far to weigh his hand, and lay the burden 
upon us. 

6. Alas ! What other design can our gracious 
Lord have in afflicting his ministers and disci- 
ples ? Is he a cruel God, who takes pleasure 
in the sufferings of his servants ? Is he a bar- 
barous tyrant, who finds his grandeur and safe- 
ty only in the tears and blood of the subjects 
who adore him ? It is then for our benefit alone 
that he punishes and chastises us ; his tender- 
ness suffers, if I may so speak, from our woes; 
and yet his love is so just and wise, that he still 
leaves us to suffer, because he foresees that by 
terminating our afflictions, he would in the end 

* 1 Thess. iv. 3, 



Of the Ministry. 25$ 

increase our misery, and prevent our useful- 
ness and glory. He is like a skilful surgeon, 
who has pity indeed on the cries and suffer- 
ings of his patient, and yet cuts to the quick 
all that he finds corrupted in the wound ; he 
is never more kind or beneficent to his ser- 
vants, than when he appears to be most se- 
vere ; and it is indubitably evident that afflic- 
tions are necessary and useful to us, since a 
God so good and so kind can resolve to lay them 
upon us. 

We read, in the histories of the martyrs, 
how weak girls could set at defiance all the 
barbarity of tyrants! how children, before 
they were able to support the labours of life, 
could run with joy to meet the rigours of the 
most dreadful deaths ! how old men, sinking 
already under the weight of their bodies, 
seemed, by their cries of triumph, to feel their 
youth renewed like that of an eagle, in the 
midst of the torments of slow martyrdoms ! 
And are you weak, my brethren ? Then that 
Weakness itself, if you be faithful to the grace 
of God, will bring glory to the faith and reli- 
gion of Jesus Christ. It is on that account 
that the Lord has chosen you, to make known 
in you and by you, how much stronger grace 
is than nature. He " hath chosen the foolish 
things of the world, to confound the wise; 
and hath chosen the weak things of the world, 
to confound the things which are mighty; and 
base things of the world, and things which are 
despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things 



260 Coke on the Duties 

which are not, to bring to nought the things 
that are, that no flesh should glory in his pre- 
sence."* If you were born with any spiri- 
tual strength, you would do no honour to the 
power of grace 3 that patience which is now 
the pure gift of God, would then be justly at- 
tributed to man. Thus in a sense the weaker 
we are, the fitter instruments we become for 
the designs and glory of God. He delights 
to choose the feeble for his greatest purposes, 
that man may attribute nothing to himself; 
and that the vain constancy of the wise and 
the philosophers may be confounded by their 
example. His first disciples were but feeble 
lambs, when he sent them into the world, and 
exposed them in the midst of wolves. These 
are the earthen vessels which the Lord is 
pleased to break, like those of Gideon, that in 
them the light and power of faith might shine 
with greater splendour and magnificence. And 
if you enter into the designs of his mercy and 
wisdom, your weakness, which in your eyes 
justifies your murmurs or unfaithfulness, would 
prove one of the sweetest consolations of your 
trials. 

8. " Lord," you would say to him all your 
days, " I ask not that proud reason or philo- 
sophy, which seeks all the consolations of its 
pains in the glory of suffering with constancy. 
I ask not that insensibility of heart, which ei- 
ther feels not its miseries, or despises them. 

* 1 Cor. i. 27— 29. 



Of the Ministry. 261 

Give me, Lord, that sweet simplicity, that 
tender sensible heart, which appears so little 
fit to support its tribulations and trials : only 
increase thy comforts and thy graces. Then, 
the weaker I appear in the eyes of men, the 
greater wilt thou appear in my weakness; 
and the more will the children of this world 
admire the power of faith, which alone can 
raise the feeblest and most timid souls to 
that point of constancy and firmness, which 
philosophy has never been able to attain." 
" Endure," therefore, " afflictions." 

2dly. 1. Nothing is more common, than for 
ministers and private professors to justify their 
murmurs or unfaithfulness , by the character or 
peculiarity of the afflictions themselves. We 
easily persuade ourselves, that we could bear 
crosses of another nature with resignation; 
but those which the Lord has laid upon us, are 
of such a character as can yield no consola- 
tion; that the more we examine what passes 
among men, the more singular we find our 
trials or afflictions to be, and our situation al- 
most without example. 

2. But to remove this feeble defence of 
self-love, so unworthy of genuine faith, I 
would answer, That the more extraordinary 
our trials or afflictions are, the more clearly 
may we discover the hand of Providence in 
them ; the more evidently may we observe 
the secret designs of a God ever attentive to 
our interests; the more may we presume, that 
2?* 



262 Coke on the Duties 

under such new events he conceals new views 
and singular designs of mercy, for the welfare 
of our souls, and for our future usefulness in 
his church. 

3. Now, what is the most powerful conso- 
lation under trials and afflictions ? " God sees 
me :" He counts my sighs ; he weighs my 
afflictions ; " he puts my tears in his bottle ;" 
he blesses the whole to my present sanctifica- 
tion and usefulness in his church, and to my 
eternal happiness. Since I have felt his heavy 
hand upon me, in so singular a manner that 
there seemed to be no resource remaining 
here below, 1 feel myself more than ever un- 
der his immediate inspection. Oh! if I had 
enjoyed a more tranquil situation, his eyes 
perhaps would not have been upon me as they 
are at present; perhaps I should have been 
forgotten, and confounded among those who 
have their portion in this world. Lovely 
sufferings ! which, in depriving me of all hu- 
man succour, restore to me my God, and make 
him my refuge and resource through his bless- 
ing. Precious afflictions! which, in making 
me forget the creatures, have rendered me, 
through the co-operation of rich and suffering 
grace, a continual object of the remembrance 
and mercies of my Lord ! 

4. But is there any one among us, who 
wishes that he may not be called to endure af- 
flictions ! Alas ! Take care that the Lord does 
not hear thee in his wrath : take care that he 
does not punish thee in granting thee thy de- 



Of the Ministry. 263 

sire ; that he does not find thee unworthy of 
his temporial afflictions ; for " whom the Lord 
loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son 
whom he receiveth."* 

5. To all these truths, so consoling to an af- 
flicted soul, I could still add, my brethren, that 
if our pains and trials appear excessive, it is 
only through the excess of corruption in our af- 
fections, which gives strength to our sufferings: 
our losses or afflictions become so grievous to 
us, only through those attachments which bind 
us to external objects 5 and the excess of our 
sorrows or chagrin is always the excess of 
an unjust love of the creatures. Alas, bre- 
thren ! the woes and afflictions of others are 
too often nothing in our eyes. We do not ob- 
serve that the trials of thousands around us, 
are greater than our own ; that our afflictions 
have innumerable resources, which theirs 
have not ; that in our habitual infirmities, or in 
our trials in the church, we find in the number 
of persons who are still attentive to our wants, 
an abundance of comforts denied to others : — 
'when we have lost a warm and faithful friend, 
we have many ways to soften our bitterness : 
when persecuted by our relations' or families, 
we can find in the tenderness and confidence 
of our friends and brethren, attentions and 
kindness which we found not at home. In 
short, we have an abundance of human sources 
of satisfaction, to compensate for our trials ; 

* Heb. xii. 6. 



264 Coke en the Duties 

and if we put into the scale, on one side our 
comforts, and on the other our afflictions, we 
shall find that our comforts, if improved, far 
overbalance our sorrows, besides the conso- 
lations of the Spirit of God. 

6. Truly, my brethren, it is not only the ex- 
cessive love of ourselves, but hardness of 
heart towards our fellozv- creatures, which mag- 
nifies in our eyes our own afflictions. Let us dai- 
ly enter under the unfurnished and miserable 
roofs of the poor, where shame frequently con- 
ceals miseries the most frightful and affecting: let 
us go to those asylums of wretchedness, where 
calamities seem to be heaped together : it is 
there we shall learn what we ought to think of 
our own afflictions : it is there, that, touched 
with the excess of so many and great miseries, 
we shall blush to have given names to the 
lightness of our own : it is there that our mur- 
murs and unfaithful intentions will change into 
expressions, and into the very spirit of gratitude 
and thankfulness : and less occupied with the 
thoughts of those light crosses which we bear, 
than with the many from which we have been 
delivered, we shall almost begin to fear the in- 
dulgence of our God, so far from complaining 
of his severity. "Endure," therefore, "af- 
flictions." 

3dly. 1 . I will conclude this head of the 
Apostle's charge with the following importaat 
reflection : That God, in all the trials and afflic- 
tions which he lays upon, or suffers to happen to, 
his zealous ministering servants, has but two ends 
in his view and in his gracious intention ; jirst, 



Of the Ministry. 265 

their sanctification and eternal happiness; se~ 
condly, their usefulness in his church. Every 
thing he permits or does for them here below, 
he does it, or permits it, only to facilitate these 
gracious designs : every agreeable or afflictive 
event which any way concerns them, he has 
prepared for them, to make them more holy, 
useful, and eternally glorious. All his plans con- 
cerning them, have reference to these purposes 
alone : all that they are in the order of nature, 
their birth, their talents, the age in which they 
live, their friends, and their vocation — all these, 
in his views of mercy towards them, and mercy 
towards the world, have entered into his divine 
impenetrable designs for the eternal salvation 
of themselves and others ; and not all the pow- 
ers of earth and hell, no, none but them- 
selves, can possibly defeat or counteract them. 
All this visible world itself was only made for 
the world which is to come : all that passes 
here, has its secret connexion with eternity* 
all that which we see, is only the figure of 
things invisible. This world would not be 
worthy of the care of an infinitely wise and 
merciful God, but as far as, by secret and won- 
derful connexions, its various revolutions tend 
to form that church in the heavens, that immor- 
tal assembly of the redeemed, where he will 
be eternally glorified : he acts not in time but 
for eternity ; and he is in this the great model 
which we should in every thing follow. 

2. " Ah ! When shall it be, O our God, that 
our souls, raised by faith above all the crea- 



266 Coke on the Duties 

tures, shall no more adore but thee in and 
through them all ; shall no more attribute to 
them events, of which thou alone, in thy im- 
mediate or permissive providence, art the au- 
thor ; shall acknowledge in all the various situ- 
ations in which thou hast placed us, the adora- 
ble conduct and wisdom of thy providence; and 
in the midst of crosses themselves, shall taste 
that unutterable peace, which the world and 
all its pleasure can never bestow I" 

3. Religion alone, my brethren, can afford 
us solid comfort under all our trials and afflic- 
tions. Philosophy may stop our complaints, 
but can never truly soften our grief. The 
world may stupify our anxiety, but can never 
heal it ; and in the midst of all its employments 
or amusements, the secret sting of sorrow will re- 
main always deeply plunged in the bottom of 
the heart. — God alone can prove the effectual 
comforter of all our pains ; and is there need 
of any other for the faithful soul ? Weak mor- 
tals, by their vain discourse and ordinary lan- 
guage of tenderness and compassion, may speak 
to the ears of the body ; but it is the God of 
all consolation who alone knows how to speak 
to the heart. 

4. It would perhaps be presumption in me 
to call any afflictions heavy, which I have ex- 
perienced ; and it was probably owing to my 
want of grace, that they to me appeared to be 
great. But I can bless God, that ever I was 
tried and afflicted ; and hardly know for which 
to thank him most, his disguised or undisguised 



Of the Ministry. 267 

mercies. O how he has broken my stubborn 
will, and humbled my proud heart, and mode- 
rated my ambitious views (though all seemed 
to be for his glory) by trials and afflictions 1 
And I doubt not, but many of my brethren, as 
well as myself (though not in the same degree 
with me, because they did not equally need it,) 
can bear testimony to the grace and power of 
God in the use of this profitable means. Let 
us then, my brethren, " endure afflictions :" 
Let us " take unto us the whole armour of 
God, that we may be able to withstand in the 
evil day ; and having done all, to stand."* 

5. " O God, it is thou alone who canst sup- 
port us under all our trials : we are weakness 
itself without thee. It is thy grace alone, 
which can sanctify the means, and make our 
afflictions profitable. Lord, teach us to depend 
wholly upon thee : it is with thee alone, we 
desire to forget all our trials, all our pains, 
all the creatures. But, alas ! too often have 
we wished, that the foolish projects of our 
own hearts should serve as the rule of thine 
infinite wisdom ! We have wandered, and 
been lost in our thoughts : our imaginations 
have formed a thousand flattering dreams; our 
hearts have run after phantoms. We have 
desired more favour from men, more health of 
body, more talents, more glory, as if we had 
been wiser and better acquainted with our 
true interests, than thou, O omniscient Lord 

* Eph. vi 13. 



268 Coke on the Duties, <J*c. 

God ! We have not entered, as we might, into 
the gracious designs of thy love in our favour. 
But O ! from this time, thou shalt be our only 
Comforter; and we will seek, in the meditation 
of thy holy law, those solid and lasting conso- 
lations, which the creatures can never afford. 
Lord, take us into thyself ; be thou the joy of 
our hearts, be thou the delight of our eyes, 
be thou our portion for ever ! Even so, Lord 
Jesus. Amen." 







r 



DISCOURSE III. 



2 TIMOTHY iv. 5. 



Do the work of an evangelist, make full proof 
of thy ministry. 



PART I. 

'• IN my former discourses on St. Paul's 
charge to Timothy, we considered the neces- 
sity of true zeal in all the public duties of the 
ministry, and in our intercourse with the 
people of the world, and the necessity of 
watchfulness and enduring afflictions. We 
come now to enlarge on the two remaining par- 
ticulars of the charge, " Do the work of an 
evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry." 

2. The Apostle's solemn and pointed man- 
ner of writing to Timothy, not only for his own 
sake, but for the benefit of the church in all 
ages, will appear the more necessary and in- 
dispensable, if we recollect that the corrup- 
tion of the ministry has been always the 
grand source of the corruption of a people, 
of the general depravation of their manners, 
smd of the extinction of all true faith. 
23 



270 Coke on the Duties 

3. Those who are acquainted with the reli- 
gious history of Christendom, well know, that 
in proportion as the ministers of a church are 
holy, holiness will reign among the people. 
The purity of Christianity, wherever it has 
flourished, never has begun to decay but with 
the fall of the ministrm and disorder has ge- 
nerally begun at the W>use of God. Thus it 
is in a considerable measure we who decide, 
if I may so speak, on the salvation or damnation 
of the people : upon us, in some sense, de- 
pends the increase or diminution of the reign 
of Jesus Christ upon earth, the consummation 
©r destruction of his work, the utility or inu- 
tility of his blood and mission- the glory or 
reproach of his religion, and all the designs of 
God concerning the salvation of man. 

4. From the moment we enter on the mi- 
nistry of the gospel, we become either holy 
pillars, to support the feeble; or stones of of- 
fence, against which the strong themselves may 
break in pieces : we become either brazen 
serpents rajl£<f on high, to heal through grace 
the plag&es of the multitude; or golden calves 
pk&eo^in the camp of the Lord, to be an occa- 
sion to them of apostacy, wickedness, and 
tj&olatry. We are so situated, that we can nei- 
ther stand nor fall alone : the destiny of those 
souls over whom we are set, is in a considera- 
ble degree awfully attached to ours ! 

5. Now, what a frightful situation is this for 
an unfaithful pastor ! He may continually say 
to himself, " I am employed in the church to 



Of the Ministry. 27 1 

destroy and not to build up : I am become the 
tempter and murderer of those souls, of which 
I ought to have been instrumentally the sa- 
viour and the father. I am charged with a 
dispensation of the gospel, and yet only make 
every thing which should facilitate the salva- 
tion of souls, turn out to their ruin; and I in 
effect employ against religion, all that which 
religion has intrusted me with for its mainte- 
nance and support." Behold here, without 
exceeding the truth, the character of a bad 
minister. Certainly, my brethren, a bad mi- 
nister is the greatest plague which the wrath 
of God can suffer to spring up among any 
people. 

6. But the more the situation of an unfaith- 
ful pastor is to be deplored, the more full of 
consolation is the character of a true minister 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He continues on 
earth the mission and ministry of his adorable 
Master. He co-operates with him in the con- 
summation of the happiness of the saints, in 
the edification of his mystic body, and in the 
accomplishment of all his designs of mercy 
towards man. He is instrumentally here be- 
low, as Christ himself, a saviour of his peo- 
ple, a reconciler of Heaven and earth : and 
when he shall one day appear before the 
throne of the great Judge of quick and dead, 
with all his own, he will be able to say to him 
with confidence, u Behold me, and the chil- 
dren thou hast given me. Those that thou 
gavest me I have kept, and none of them is 



272« Coke on the Duties 

lost. I render them back to thee, because 
thou didst deliver them to me, that they might 
be sanctified through thy truth, and might 
sing with all thy redeemed the eternal praises 
of thy grace." 

7. O what a heavenly calling, my brethren, 
is ours ! But our duties are as great and as 
heavenly as our vocation. Let us then toge- 
ther animate each other, both by the eminence 
and importance of our ministry, and by the 
glorious and comfortable fruits which are the 
consequences of its faithful administration ! 

8. Can we now be surprised at the repeti- 
tion, in effect, which we find in the Apostle's 
charge; or rather the different points of view, 
in which he holds forth the duties of the gos- 
pel ministry ? 1st. " Preach the word." 
2dly. " Be instant in season, out of season : 
reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffer- 
ing and doctrine." 3dly. " Watch in all 
things." 4thly. " Endure afflictions." 5thly. 
" Do the work of an evangelist." 6thly. "Make 
full proof of thy ministry." The first four of 
these we have enlarged upon. We now come 
to the fifth, " Do the work of an evangelist." 

The word evangelist, in its most compre- 
hensive sense, implies a preacher of glad 
tidings, or, in other words, a preacher of the 
gospel, with all his concomitant duties. In 
the apostolic age, it more particularly sig- 
nified an extraordinary minister, appointed to 
assist the Apostles in preaching and publish- 
ing the gospel — in watering what the Apos- 



Of the Ministry. 273 

ties planted : and in this sense also it con- 
tained a very extensive meaning. But at 
present, it is generally applied to those in- 
spired writers, who were employed by the 
Spirit of God to record tbe life and actions 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. We must here, 
however, consider the word in its most en- 
larged sense; for Timothy was, without doubt, 
in every point of view, a minister of the 
gospel. 

1st. In considering this division of our 
subject, we shall, first, take a review of the 
numerous advantages of a zealous gospel mi- 
nistry. 

1. A faithful minister, who consecrates 
himself to every good word and work, who 
enters into the minute examination of all the 
miseries and wants of his brethren, and la- 
bours to find a remedy for them all — repre- 
sent, if you can, all the works of salvation 
and mercy among men, of which such a mi- 
nister will be the instrument, through the 
blood of the covenant and the grace of the 
Spirit! He heals those hearts which are 
sick and alienated from God : he pierces the 
darkness, with which shame so often covers 
the indigent, and in affording them, by the 
means at least of his benevolent friends, a se- 
cret succour, spares them even the confusion 
of being relieved : useful institutions for the 
instruction or relief of the poor and the 
stranger, which come within his circle, find 
in his care, or in his zeal, resources which es- 
23* 



274 Coke on the Duties 

tablish them, or which preserve them from 
falling, and give them a new solidity. O 
what public disorders does he prevent; what 
occasions of salvation does he improve ! He 
stirs up the pious, and makes them useful in 
the conversion or sanctification of others : 
he presides at every holy enterprise ; he is, 
at it were, the soul of piety in his circuit; 
even the greater part of those sinners who 
attend his ministry, but still live in sin or 
vanity, feel a hope that some day they shall 
be converted by his meaas. He animates 
all ; he finds remedies for all. There is 
no public good within his circle, and con- 
sistent with his calling, to which he does 
not sacrifice himself; no good undertaking 
which he prevent* ; no sinner, who does 
not appear worthy of his zeal. In short, 
there is nothing which can quench or stop his 
divine ardour, or the holy fervour of his love; 
" and there is nothing hid from the heat there- 
of."* 

2. We read,! that the corpse of a man be- 
ing thrown near the dead body of Elisha, it 
instantly revived; those eyes which death had 
closed, open again; his tongue is unloosed; and 
we see him come from the abode of death, and 
again to enjoy life and light. Alas, my bre- 
thren ! Carcasses the most putrified, souls in 
which spiritual death and the corruption of sin 
have reigned abundantly longer, can hardly 

*Ps. xix.G, t2Kingsxiii.21. 



Of the Ministry. 275 

approach a holy minister, an ambassador of 
God, dead to himself, to the world and all its 
hopes, but they instantly, through grace, feel 
a virtue go from him, a breath of life which 
begins to reanimate them, to inspire into them 
good desires, and to rouse them from their le- 
thargy; and which, in those who are faithful 
to these beginnings, will produce the fruits of 
grace and salvation. 

3. And then his example ! His piety, his 
disinterestedness, his mortified spirit, his mo- 
desty, his ministerial gravity, have such a se- 
cret, constant, powerful influence, that he 
may be truly said to be sent for the salvation 
of many. It is true, that neither the example 
nor labours of the holiest ministers can have 
the least influence in the regeneration or sal- 
vation of souls without the unction of the Ho- 
ly Spirit; but the person, the words, the ac- 
tions of a devoted ambassador of Christ, are 
all anointed, and breathe forth the savour of 
Jesus's name. What a happiness must it be 
then to a people, when God raises among them 
holy ministers, whose deep piety and crucified 
lives serve, so to speak, as spectacles to an- 
gels and men ! They are a continual gospel 
before their eyes ! " Do," therefore, " the 
work of an evangelist." 

2illy. From hence appears the necessity of 
eminent zeal; in order to inflame xviih divine 
love the hearts of the people, and to bear down 



276 Coke on the Duties 

all the obstacles which oppose the spread of the 
gospel. 

1. Frozen discourses will never set on fire 
the souls of the hearers. Indeed, how can 
those ministers even appear to the people as 
animated with that divine fire which carries 
the sparks of grace to the coldest and most in- 
sensible hearts, who themselves are all ice in 
the practice of every duty; and who feel not 
themselves all alive for the salvation of either 
their brethren or themselves ? If we fill up 
our public duties with an air of custom, of 
weariness, of reluctance, (which is insepara- 
ble from a life oflukewarmness,) and of unfaith- 
fulness, in the pastoral office, we shall leave 
the same dispositions in those who hear us. 
Our labours will rouse neither our faith nor 
piety, and will leave the same spiritual death 
on the minds of our audience. Alas ! my 
brethren, even in a holy and fervent minister, 
it calls for prodigies of zeal, application, pa- 
tience, and labour, to bear down all the ob- 
stacles which the world, the devil, and the 
present corruption of manners, oppose to the 
success of his ministry. What then can the 
cowardly idle minister promise himself from 
his baseness and idleness ? What fruit can he 
expect from a field, to which he never puts 
but a feeble languishing hand; and which seems 
to be intrusted to him, to be the sport of his 
cruel neglect, rather than the object of his 
care ? 






Of the Ministry. 277 

2. " Because thou art lukewarm, and nei- 
ther cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my 
mouth,"* says Christ. If a private professor, 
who lives in the spirit of lukewarmness, is unfit 
for the kingdom of heaven, and is rejected out 
of the mouth of Christ, as a lukewarm and 
disgusting drink which raises the stomach ; 
what is a minister good for, who does the par- 
ticular work of God negligently ? What an ob- 
ject of disgust for a God who is jealous of his 
gifts ! What an afflicting spectacle to that part 
of the church of God which beholds it — to see 
a place in that ministry which is designed for 
zeal, for labour, and for the salvation of souls, 
filled by a lukewarm idle minister, instead of 
a faithful labourer ; instead of one, who would 
have enlarged the kingdom of Jesus Christ, 
who would have snatched from their miseries 
a glorious number of sinners, who would have 
edified and built up believers, and been the 
glory of Christ.! 

3. Could the gospel have been spread through 
so large a part of the world, and the fool- 
ishness of the cross have triumphed over nu- 
merous and great nations, if those apostolic 
men who have preceded us, had regarded the 
oppositions which the people, yea, which the 
whole pagan world, made to the progress of 
the gospel ? Where should we have been, if 
difficulties insurmountable by human prudence, 
had abated their zeal or suspended their la~ 

* Rev. iii. 16. f 2 Cor. viii. 23. 



278 Coke on the Duties 

labours ; or if, in the persuasion of finding us 
as we were, savage and rebellious, they had 
unhappily left us to the darkness of our primi- 
tive ignorance ? Do you fear inconveniences ? 
But what is there to fear, for a pastor who fills 
up his ministry with edification and fidelity ? 
" What?" it may be answered, ''Contempt, 
reproaches, and contradictions." But these 
are his glory, and form part of the present 
consoling reward of his zeal. " What ?" it 
may be added, " Evil treatment and insults of 
various kinds." But these are the most ho- 
nourable seals of his apostleship. I grant, 
however, 

3dly. 1. That all this zeal should be continu- 
ally guarded; and that the universal maxim, 
which binds every private member of the church 
of Christ, should be particularly written on the 
hearts of his ministers — u Let your moderation 
be known unto all men"* There is a modesty 
which should run through the whole character 
of a minister of Christ, and should manifest 
itself in ali his words and actions ; yea, even 
upon those occasions when he most unbends 
his mind. 

2. Nothing is of more importance than the 
moderation and modesty of ministers who are 
consecrated to the Lord. The same decency, 
the same circumspection, the same majesty, 
which accompanies them in their public du- 
ties, should follow them every where ; and as 

Phil. iv. 5. 



Of the Ministry. 279 

they are every where to consider themselves 
as the ambassadors of Christ, they ought every 
where to support the dignity 4)f this character, 
in the wisdom of their words, in the chaste 
decency of their dress, and in the seriousness 
of all their actions. I have already, in a for- 
mer discourse, spoken on this subject ; but I 
would wish to enlarge a little farther, on ac- 
count of its importance. 

3. If the sacred writings, by which we shall 
be judged, make every idle word a transgres- 
sion ; if the gospel exacts from every private 
Christian such circumspection, reserve, and 
modesty in his conversation — what does it not 
require from the immediate ministers of Jesus 
Christ ! The lips of ministers are, next to the 
word of God, the depositaries of divine know- 
ledge, which they are incessantly to adminis- 
ter to the people ; and when the Spirit of 
God calls them to the ministry, he says to them 
in some sense, as formerly to the prophet, u I 
have put my words in thy mouth, and have 
covered thee jn the shadow of mine hand, that 
I may plant the heavens, and lay the founda- 
tions of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou 
art my people :"* That is to say, to the end 
that you may make as a new heaven and a new 
earth, or at least as a part of it, the people in- 
trusted to your care ; that you may accustom 
them to regard me as the only God who de- 
serves their affections and homage ; that they 

* Isa. li. 16. 



280 Coke on the Duties 

may learn to regard themselves as a holy pee- 
pie consecrated to me alone ; that the heaven 
and earth which*they behold, are the works 
of my liberal hand, which, with all things they 
contain, deserve not their affections ; and that 
I have prepared for them a heaven infinitely 
more glorious and eternal, where they shall 
enjoy, with my redeemed, pleasures for ever- 
more. What follows from hence ? But, that 
our tongue is no more our own : that it is con- 
secrated to the word of God, and the edifica- 
tion pf the people : that witticisms and vain 
discourses are unlawful amusements in the 
mouths of believers ; but that they are profa- 
nations in ours ! 

4. Far be it from me to speak against the 
relaxations of innocent society : but that which 
I would say, my brethren, is this — that our 
conversation should be always marked with a 
peculiar character of piety, gravity, and mo- 
desty ; that, in coaversing, we should with a 
holy joy endeavour to edify each other, and 
all around us, with words of love and truth : 
and that we should banish from our discourse 
all profane and immoderate joy, and all the 
low and all the genteel pleasantries of the 
world. 

5. I would just add, that all our relaxations, 
even when we most unbend our minds, should 
have in them a peculiarity of decency , reserve, 
and seriousness. 1 know that both the soul 
and body need relaxation ; but those moments 
which we give to nature are neither useful nor 



Of the Ministry. 281 

permitted, but as they dispose us for our du- 
ties, and prepare us for further toil. Repose 
is appointed for us, to the end that we may gain 
new strength to continue our course ; and 
therefore every kind of relaxation which tends 
to estrange us from it, to discourage us, or to 
inspire us with a distaste of our toil and public 
labours, is to us improper, yea, criminal. 

6. But as for you, my brethren, permit me 
to finish this head of my descourse with those 
words of the Apostle, " Ye have not so learn- 
ed Christ."* No, brethren : it is not thus 
that you dishonour your ministry : it is not 
thus, that you turn into a stumbling-block the 
sacred character which you have received 
from Jesus Christ for their salvation. Conti- 
nue then, my brethren, to conduct yourselves 
before your people in a manner worthy the 
holiness and gravity of your vocation. We 
live in times, when infidelity moves with gigan- 
tic strides ; when the licentiousness of the 
public manners leaves us nothing to avoid the 
malignity of suspicion, and the contempt of the 
world, but this respectable gravity, modesty, 
and piety, supported throughout the minutest 
particulars of our conduct and manners. Ir« 
religion is come to a point ; and the world is 
charmed to find so many ministers like them- 
selves. It seems to be a victory and gain to 
them, when they can persuade themselves, or 
when they can perceive, that any ministers 

* Eph. iv. 20. 
24 



282 Coke on the Duti€$ 

tread under foot the duties of their station.*— 
They see not, that the unfaithfulness and mis- 
conduct of ministers consecrated to the service 
of religion, is the greatest judgment God can 
inflict upon a people, except the entire remo- 
val of the candlestick of the gospel.* Let none 
of ms then, my brethren, increase the blindness 
of the world, by confirming it in its errors 
through our example. O ! Let none of us be- 
come stones of stumbling, and the most griev- 
our plagues to those, to whom weshould be 
guides in the way ©f salvation ! 

7. In a word, my brethren, feed the flock 
w ? hich is intrusted to your care, with the ten- 
derness of fathers, with the vigilance of guides, 
and with all the modesty, simplicity, and holi- 
ness, which become ministers of Jesus Christ. 
Let your example, under the grace of God, 
give you assurance of the fruit and success of 
your ministry : appear not occupied or touch- 
ed with any thing but their salvation : forget, 
as it were, your own temporal interests; or 
never put them in the balance with the inter- 
est of their souls. Consider yourselves as 
theirs. Your calling, your mission, your func- 
tions, are only for them : give yourselves then 
wholly to them, as if you were created only for 
their benefit. " Do the work of an evangelist." 

# Rev. ii. 5. 



Of the Ministry. 283 



PART II. 

/ now proceed to the last head of my subject — 
" Make full proof of your ministry :" So fulfil 
the whole, that none may charge you with the neg- 
lect of your duty, Let the world see, that you 
make it your own and only work to win souls. 

1. How strong and comprehensive is this 
commandment! Should we not therefore fre- 
quently examine ourselves, concerning the pu- 
rity of our zeal, and of our motives in respect to 
all the parts of our ministerial office — Whether 
we " make full proof of our ministry" in the 
sight of God as well as man ? When we enter 
on any employment, should we not first in- 
quire, Will God be glorified by this underta- 
king ? Is it his work which I am entering upon ? 
Is that which I purpose to myself, really my 
duty ? Does divine love influence me to com- 
fort the afflicted, to strengthen the weak, and 
to bring sinners to Christ ? Does divine zeal 
urge me to cultivate in secret the fruits of my 
public labours ; to support the rising conver- 
sation by spiritual discourse ; to heal domestic 
dissentions by the counsels of meekness and 
wisdom ; to reconcile fathers to their children ; 
to restore to wives the affections of their hus- 
bands ; and to carry the peace of Jesus Christ 
into all the families I visit ? Does the spirit of 
ministerial vigilance and holy solicitude lead 
me into every work of mercy and piety : Do I 
"make full proof of my ministry }*' 



284 Coke on the Duties 

2. Do I visit the fatherless and widows in their 
afflictions?* Do I prefer " the house of mourn- 
ing to the house of feasting?"! Can a father 
see his children on the point of being taken 
from him, without running to their succour, 
and leaving with them at least some farewell 
marks of consolation and tenderness ? And is 
he a shepherd, or a savage, who sees his infirm, 
perhaps dying sheep, and condescends not to 
offer them at least his spiritual assistance ? No, 
my brethren ; a pastor, who neglects the sick 
of his flock must have a heart as hard as a stone, 
or as light as vanity. " I was sick," will 
Christ say, " and ye visited me not."J 

And if a poor sinner on the verge of eter- 
nity, though not a member of our society, im- 
plore my assistance at that awful period, shall 
I refuse him my aid ? How little must I know 
of, or at least how little regard, the value of 
a soul, if I do not fly to his rescue ? for who 
knows but he may be called, even by my in- 
strumentality, at the last hour of the day ? 
And what shall I answer before the tremen- 
dous Judge at his awful bar, when all the in- 
tricate threads of human events are fully un- 
ravelled, if I find that that immortal soul^ now 
lost for ever, would have been saved, if I had 
been faithful ? Will not his blood, will not 
his soul, be required at my hands ? God en- 
able us to " make full proof of our ministry /" 
But again, 

* Jam. i. 27. t Eccies. vii. 2. % Matt xxv. 43. 



Of the Ministry, 285 

3. Do I faithfully visit the poor? If such 
as neglect to feed the poor with material 
bread, shall on the great day be placed on the 
left hand of the Judge, how can those escape 
condemnation, Whose office is to dispense to 
them spiritual bread, if they neglect so sacred 
; a charge ? I well know, that the generality 
of our Travelling Preachers are unable, out 
of their little pittance, to afford much to the 
poor, for the supply of those temporal reme- 
dies or comforts which their miseries demand; 
and therefore this is not what the gospel par- 
ticularly requires of them; nor do the poor 
in general, who know them, expect it from 
them: though I have no doubt but you, my 
brethren, give according to your ability, yea, 
and many of you, as the Apostle says, beyond 
it; softening at least by your cares, your sen- 
sibility ,your advice, and your prayers, the pains 
and distresses of your poorer brethren, and suf- 
fering and sympathizing with those whom you 
cannot temporally relieve. We are, you know, 
ministers of things future; and the riches which 
God showers upon the people by our means, 
are the riches of grace and eternal glory. 

Let us then be, if possible, more ready to 
succour, with our prayers and advice, those 
among our people, whose poverty incapacitates 
them from recompensing our labours, than 
those who might reward them by temporal 
kindnesses, and at the same time least need 
our counsels. Let us not divide our cares 
among our people, according to the means 
24* 



286 Coke on the Duties 

they possess to compensate for them, but ac- 
cording to the need they have of the assistance 
of our ministry. Let the name of the poor 
be honourable in our eyes. Let us not have 
the hardness of heart to add to the distresses 
of their situation, that of our neglect and in- 
difference; but let us make ample amends for 
our want of power to supply their bodily ne- 
cessities, by our zeal and assiduity in the 
things which relate to their souls : let us make 
them conscious, that their poverty is a title 
which only endears them the more to us, as 
making them more dependent upon us, and 
ourselves in consequence more responsi- 
ble for them. Let us consider them as the 
most privileged part of our flock; as, in their 
outward condition, most resembling Christ 
when he abode upon earth in the flesh. Let 
us consider ourselves happy in a constant in- 
terest in their prayers. "The Lord heareth 
the poor,"* says the Psalmist. When they 
are poor in spirit also, then it is the voice of 
that Dove which is always heard and answer- 
ed, that groans within them. Let us suffer 
with them in compassionating their pains : 
let us remember that our mission, like that of 
our adorable Redeemer, is peculiarly to the 
poor. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me," 
says Christ by Isaiah, " because he hath 
anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;" 
and " this day," says he in the synagogue, 

*Ps.Ixix.33. 



Of the Ministry. 287 

" is this scripture fulfilled in your ears."* 
" Go," says our Lord to the disciples of John 
the Baptist, " and show John again those 
things which ye do hear and see : the blind 
receive their sight, and the lame walk, the le- 
pers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the 
dead are raised up, and the poor have the gos- 
pel preached to them."] As if he had said to 
them, Your Master is so perfectly acquainted 
with the nature of the Messiah's kingdom, and 
the entire crucifixion to the pomps and vani- 
ties of the world which its members must ne- 
cessarily experience, that one of the strongest 
proofs to him that I am Christ, will be this — 
that " the poor have the gospel preached 
unto them." Let us then, my brethren, be 
thankful that we labour among a people who 
are in general poor; for it is among such, that 
the grace of the Spirit of God is most abun- 
dantly shed abroad. We receive, it is true, 
but little from their indigence; but the harvest 
is always rich for Jesus Christ 1 Well did the 
primitive bishop, on the demand of the Roman 
emperor, that he should deliver up all the 
treasures of his church, bring to him the poor 
indigent members of his flock, who, though 
destitute of worldly comforts, were rich in 
faith ) So it has been, is, and probably will be, 
till the great millennial year rushes in upon 
the world. 

* Is. Ixi. 1. Luke iv. 18.21. 
t Matt. xi. 4, 5. 



288 Coke on the Duties 

Let us then take delight in daily visiting the 
poor: let none of us manifest so little faith, 
and crucifixion to the world, as to regard those 
ministers most happy, who labour among the 
rich. They may be better paid ; but will 
their usefulness be greater ? They may find 
those who are most ready, because most 
able, to supply their temporal wants ; but will 
they find those who are most read} r to profit 
by their instructions ? The thorns and anxiety 
accompanying riches, generally choke and sti- 
fle the word of God :* The field may be more 
adorned, but the soil in general is barren and 
ungrateful. Whilst on the contrary, a minis- 
ter, who faithfully labours among a poor peo- 
ple, possessing simple and teachable spirits, 
penetrated with a love of the great obvious 
and essential truths of the gospel, and submis- 
sive in their indigence to the divine hand 
which corrects them — such a one, I say, has 
the consolation of daily seeing his ministry 
abundant in fruits for heaven. Let us then 
consider it as one of our highest duties to visit 
the poor : Let us not account our labours in 
any wise recompensed, but when they produce 
the fruits of life and salvation ; and let us not 
estimate concerning our duties or station, ex- 
cept by the gains we can make thereby for Je- 
sus Christ our Lord. 

4. When all these holy duties, privileges, 
and vocations, are duly estimated, may not the 

* Matt. xiii. 22. 



Cf the Ministry. 289 

minister of the gospel profitably enter into 
some such soliloquy as the following ? " I can 
neither through my unfaithfulness damn, nor 
through grace save, myself alone. From the 
time that I enter the holy ministry, I must ne- 
cessarily be either a plague sent from God, or 
permitted in his wise providence for the pun- 
ishment of mankind, or a gift from heaven for 
their blessing and felicity. I must resemble 
either that dragon in the Revelation, who, in 
falling, drew with him the third part of the 
stars of heaven, or that great antitype of the 
brazen serpent, Jesus Christ, who being lifted 
up draws all who believe to himself, and heals 
all the diseases and infirmities of the people. 
I have only this alternative. 

" What a most powerful motive is this for 
fidelity in my office ; for watchfulness over my 
conduct ; for zeal in my ministry ; for filial 
fear in my situation ; for a continual renewal 
in the spirit of my vocation ; for glowing hope, 
or confusion, in the expectation of the coming 
of the great Bishop of souls, who will then de- 
mand from me an account of the use or neglect 
of my talents, and who will present to me those 
souls which he had intrusted to my care, either 
as my condemnation, if they have perished 
through my neglect ; or as my glory and crown 
if they have under his grace found life and sal- 
vation by the means of my ministry !" 

5. " Finally, brethren, whatsoever things 
are true, whatsoever things are honest, what- 
soever things are just, whatsoever things are 






290 Coke on the Duties 



pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoe- 
ver things are of good report, if there be any 
virtue, and if there be any praise, think on 
these things.'"* 

" Whatsoever things are true," — Hold in its 
purity that most sacred depositary of faith and 
truth, the holy world of God. Draw from the 
pure sources, from the Scriptures, all the 
principles of holiness and morality, by which 
you should regulate your own conduct, and 
that of your flocks. Never depart from those 
rules of truth, without which all that bears the 
name of piety, is nothing but hypocrisy, and a 
scandal to others. 

" Whatsoever things are honest," — Show a 
due reservedness it your manners and conver- 
sations. Let nothing which is in the least de- 
gree indecent, or contrary to the sanctity of 
your ministry, ever escape you. Bear always 
on your countenance a holy modesty, and that 
ministerial gravity, which makes religion re- 
spectable even to those who love it not : avoid 
all suspicious familiarities; and remember, 
that your wilfully saying or doing any thing 
which may cause suspicion, is a crime in a 
minister, which innocence itself cannot justify. 

" Whatsoever things are just," — Let the 
most delicate and inviolable equity be mani- 
fested in all your conduct, disinterestedness in 
all the exercises of your ministry, prudence and 
love in your zeal, and an equal affection (as 

* Phil. iv. 8. 



Of the Ministry. 291 

ministers) towards all the faithful who are in- 
trusted to your care, as you are equally the 
spiritual fathers of them all ; no animosity, ex- 
cept against vice ; no predilection, but in fa- 
vour of holiness ; no acceptance of persons ; 
but let the wants alone of your flocks regulate 
all your cares and all your attention. 

" Whatsoever things are pure," — Inspire 
the people with a due respect for all the ordi- 
nances of the gospel, by administering them 
yourselves in the fear of God and with holy 
dignity. On all such occasions, appear as the 
elders before the throne of the Lamb, struck 
with the majesty of God, and expecting a re- 
velation of his love to your own souls and those 
of the people ; and let such modesty, awe, and 
depth of piety, be manifested in all your admi- 
nistrations ,that your people may learn from 
your whole deportment, what dispositions are 
necessary for themselves on such occasions. 
But, above all, and in all, and through all, let us 
press upon every one the necessity of holiness. 
Let us never forget cur calling — that we 
were called and sent forth to raise a holy peo- 
ple. Let all your doctrines, and all your dis- 
cipline, all your labours, and all your conver- 
* sation, centre in this. Let this be the grand 
burden of yo»>r testimony — " Without holiness 
no man shall see the Lord." 

" Whatsoever things are lovely." — Render 
yourselves amiable in the eyes of your people, 
if you would be useful to them ; amiable, not 
by improper familiarities, but by partaking of 



£92 Coke on the Duties 

their afflictions, and becoming their comforters 
in all their distresses. Gain their hearts, and 
draw their souls to Jesus Christ. Render not 
your sacred function odious, by the rudeness, 
the moroseness,or the caprice of your humours; 
nor contemptible, by a baseness of sentiment. 
Refuse not upon any occasion, to the believers 
or penitents who are committed to your charge, 
your assistance or advice, since you owe to 
them your very life. Be their consolation, 
and they will be yours ; love them as your 
children, and they will love you as their fa- 
thers. 

" Whatsoever things are of good report,'* — 
Neglect nothing which can preserve your re- 
putation pure and spotless in the judgment of 
your people. Abstain from every thing, even 
the most lawful, which can become a cause of 
offence to your brethren. Remember, that 
the fruit of your ministry is in a great measure 
attached to the good opinion they have of you. 
Disgrace not therefore our holy religion, by 
disgracing yourselves. Let your examples 
prepare the way for the success of your in- 
structions. Let no one have occasion to re- 
proach you for doing that, which you are ob- 
liged to testify against to others ; and let the 
sweet savour of your lives spread through 
your circuits, and become itself a constant cen- 
sure of the vices or faults of others. 

In short, my brethren, if the remembrance 
of the glorious army of martyrs, whose blood 
became the seed of the church, can affect 



Of the Ministry. £93 

you ; if the example of your late venerable fa- 
ther in the gospel, and of the first Methodist 
preachers, who endured the heat and burden 
of the day, and bore the ark of the testimony 
against an opposing world, can move you ; if 
you have ruling within you (as I doubt not you 
have) the principles of holiness and truth — 
" if there be any virtue, think on these things." 
If our most excellent discipline, so faithfully 
enforced by your predecessors, inspire you 
with a sacred emulation; if you be ashamed to 
degenerate from the holy fortitude of those 
who have gone before you, whose praise is in 
all our churches, — " if there be any praise, 
think on these things." Then, under Almigh- 
ty grace, you will continue to do honour to 
your holy ministry ; you will be the blessed 
means of sanctifying the peoole, and " the God 
of peace will be ever with you." 



lb 



DISCOURSE IV. 

ACTS vi.4. 



Bui we will give ourselves continually to prayer, 
and to the ministry of the word, 

PART 1. 

I. ATTENTION to, and fidelity in the ex- 
ercise of the duty of prayer, is not one of those 
obligations, which are peculiar to the ministry 
of the gospel. It is one of the most essential 
duties of Christianity. Every real Christian 
is a man of prayer: his views, his desires, his 
hopes, his affections, yea, even his conversa- 
tion, are all in heaven. Every Christian is a 
citizen of the world to come, and a stranger 
here below : All exterior objects which here 
surround him, should be to him only so many 
ties and obstacles, which, retarding his course 
and prolonging his banishment, ought to in- 
crease and inflame his desire after his country: 
All the temptations which the world offers or 
throws in his way, all his secret conflicts with 
his passions — all these should lead him to lift 
up his eyes continually to heaven ; there to 
send up his sighs and prayers, and to address 



Coke on the Duties , $»c. 295 

himself in secret, and in every place, to that 
faithful, heavenly, invisible witness of all his 
dangers, and all his struggles, from whose 
protection alone he expects his consolation 
and his strength. Every Christian then is a 
man of prayer ; and he who lives not in the 
exercise and spirit of prayer, is a man with- 
out God, without divine worship, without re- 
ligion without hope ; and if this be an incontesta- 
ble truth, what instructions are not due to the 
people, toanimate them to the love and exer- 
cise of prayer. 

2. But, my brethren, if the spirit of prayer 
be the soul of Christianity ; if that homage of 
love which we render to God in publishing his 
greatness and loving kindnesses, or in solicit- 
ing his mercies and succours — if all other or- 
dinances of the gospel are only helps and as- 
sistants to this spirit of prayer ; if all external 
worship be established, only to form of the sim- 
ple believer the man of devotion, the man of pra- 
er ; if he who calls himself a Christian, and pos- 
sesses not this spirit, and of course lives not 
in the exercise of it, be without religion, with- 
out God, without hope : what a monster must 
be the minister of this religion, an interpreter 
of its laws, an expounder of its doctrines, a dis- 
penser of its graces, a public intercessor be- 
fore God for the faithful, if he himself be not 
a man of prayer, if he be not faithful to this es- 
sential duty ! O my brethren, if there be any 
among you, who do not feel the full power of 
these truths, what cause have we to lament on 



296 Coke on the Duties 

your account, before that holy Dove, that true 
source of the spirit of prayer, who groans and 
prays incessantly in the hearts and by the 
mouths of his ministers ! 

3. St. Peter went up upon the house-top to 
pray.* In our text we are informed, that all 
the apostles were resolved to give themselves 
continually to prayer : and from the gospels 
we find that our Lord himself spent whole 
nights in prayer, on mountains, and in other se- 
cret places'.t And shall any of us presume to 
live in tjjfe omission of the frequent and habitual 
exercis of this supporting, nourishing, quick- 
ening^ A ' pensable duty ? But I have known 
many c; / i, my brethren, for years ; and am 
confident, that one of the most leading features 
of your character, is the exercise of this holy 
duty in its spirit and power. I therefore 
chiefly desire to stir up your pure minds to re- 
membrance: and O that 1 may be the means,un- 
der divine grace, by this little mite of love, of 
confirming you in your present spirit : yea, of 
animating you to still greater fidelity, and to 
higher degrees of fervour, in this blessed con- 
versation with Heaven. 

4. We are called to be the lights of those 
who are in darkness : but it is prayer and stu- 
dy, always accompanied to the sincere minis- 
ter of the gospel with the Divine light, which 
truly render us lightsfto the people. Prayer 
may be termed the science of the heart, that 

* Acts x. 9. f Matt. xiv. 23, &c. 



Of the Ministrtj. 297 

alone renders useful those studies, which form 
the science of the mind. 

5. It was the indubitable and experimental 
conviction of this truth, confirmed to them by 
Vhe infallible inspiration of the Holy Spirit of 
God, which induced the college of Apostles to 
come to the determination in my text, " We 
will give ourselves continually to prayer, and 
to the ministry of the word:" not, that they 
did not before live in the exercise and spirit 
and very life of prayer ; but they were deter- 
mined now to lay aside every weight which 
duty could dispense with, and give t K ^selves 
up more entirely than ever, to thi h com- 
munion with God. 

6. It is probable, that, like Moses of old, the 
Apostles had, from motives of pure love, taken 
an active share in all the minutest parts of the 
temporal affairs of the church : but a mur- 
muring arising between the Grecians (that is 
to say, such converted Jews as had been dis- 
persed abroad among the Greeks) and the He- 
brews, in respect to the distribution of the 
church's money among their widows respec- 
tively, the Apostles embraced this opportunity 
of shaking off that heavy burden, which so 
intruded upon the more important parts of 
their ministerial and apostolic functions : de- 
claring, that they would give themselves " con- 
tinually to prayer, and to the ministry of the 
word." 

7. We must here observe, to prevent mis- 
takes, that though the Apostles delivered up 
25* 



298 Coke on the Duties 

the management of the poor, and other inferior 
points, to the direction of subordinate officers 
of the church, they still reserved in them- 
selves the ultimate power of decision, in all 
matters which they judged of sufficient im- 
portance to call for their interference: this 
is evidently clear, from the following chapters 
of the Acts of the Apostles. But we proceed 
to show how indispensably necessary the duty 
of constant prayer, which the Apostles them- 
selves could by no means dispense with, is for 
every minister of the gospel ; having already 
enlarged upon the other subject, of the minis- 
try of the word, in my former discourses. 

8. In considering the present subject, we 
shall, first, show the necessity of continual 
prayer, as it respects ourselves, particularly 
considered in our ministerial capacity ; and 
then, secondly, as it raspects our flocks. 

I. First, As it respects ourselves. 

1st. The temptations we meet with, to distaste 
and weariness in our duties, can only be overcome 
by the exercise and life of prayer. 

If we would fill up our ministry with fidelity, 
we must wholly devote ourselves to it ; we 
must sacrifice our ease, our rest, to fill up its 
various calls; we cannot dispose of our time as 
we please : It is a holy servitude, which makes 
us no longer our own, but wholly the peo- 
ple's : We must be able to say with the Apos- 
tle, that heat and cold, fatigue, difficult roads, 



Of the Ministry. 299 

hunger and thirst, are some of the fruits of our 
ministry, and signs of our apostleship. We even 
often lahour among the ungrateful : our pains 
are often recompensed with indifference, un- 
teachableness, and murmurs ; yea, they some- 
times draw upon us the aversion of those, 
whose salvation we seek. When we are un- 
der these trials, we have reason to guard 
against disgust and discouragement. We are 
ready, perhaps, to throw up the great work in 
which we are engaged, when we see not the 
end of it, and but little of the fruits. On such 
occasions, self-love, unsupported by the wish- 
ed-for success, reclaims its rights, and secret- 
ly insinuates, that such painful and, appa- 
rently, almost useless cares cannot be our du- 
ties. ISlow how can we possibly support our- 
selves under such temptations to disgust as 
these are, which are so dangerous, and so fre- 
quent in the course of a long and laborious 
ministry, if we do not continually renew our 
strength at the feet of Jesus Christ — if we have 
not the consolation of continually drawing near 
to him, to open to him all our sorrows and dis- 
couragements, as to the great Shepherd whose 
place we occupy. It is there we shall be con- 
founded before him, for making any account of 
the light troubles of our functions, when com- 
pared to those of the first propagators of Chris- 
tianity, who sacrificed their lives for the truth : 
It is there we shall blush to have indulged a 
temptation to have laid down our arms almost 
before we had begun the combat, and to have 



300 Coke on the Duties 

been disheartened and discouraged by labours 
so light ; when those holy ministers of God 
had defied tribulations, anguish, hunger, na- 
kedness, persecution, fires, gibbets, and all the 
fury of tyrants, who would have separated 
them from the love of God in Christ Jesus their 
Lord : It is from thence, my brethren, that we 
should always return with a new taste for all 
the functions of our office — with a new zeal 
for the salvation of souls : returning from 
thence, what before appeared burdensome and 
painful, would now become light, yea, delight- 
ful to us ; and the fatigues and contradictions 
of sinners, inseparable from the duties of our 
office, would be to us a most comfortable proof 
of our calling to the ministry of the word. Let 
none of us, my brethren, deceive ourselves: 
Without the constant exercise and life of pray- 
er, we continually feel every thing which is 
disagreeable and distressing in our ministry : 
We draw in a yoke which overpowers us : We 
bear with reluctance the burden and heat of 
the day. But by prayer all is sweetened : the 
yoke is no more heavy : the labours increase ; 
but the pain, the disgust, the discouragements, 
vanish away. You sometimes, my brethren, 
perhaps, are ready to complain of the oppres- 
sion and weariness of spirit, which the multi- 
tude and difficulties of your avocations bring 
upon you, and of your inability to fulfil your 
duties : But if you address yourselves con- 
stantly to Him who changes our weakness into 
strength — if you be faithful to the duty of 



Of the Ministry, 301 

prayer, these difficulties will disappear ; the 
mountains will become plains ; you will find 
yourselves new men; and you will no longer 
complain, but that you have not laboured or 
suffered enough for Jesus Christ. 

2dly. If prayer alone can sweeten all the pains 
and discouragements attendant on the exercise of 
our sacred functions, it alone can prevent, or de- 
liver us from, all the dangers to which they ex- 
pose us. 

I. As there is nothing, perhaps, more dan- 
gerous in our situation, than the dissipation of 
mind, which is, almost unavoidably, more or 
less produced by the constant administration of 
exterior duties, I will venture to assert, that 
the exercise and spirit of prayer can alone 
preserve us from its bad effects. It is in reali- 
ty but too true, that the inward man weakens, 
and the life of God decays in the soul, in the 
midst of all the public exercises and constant 
activity which our ministerial office requires, 
if we do not continually give ourselves to prayer. 
We are real losers ourselves, while we give 
up ourselves incessantly to the wants of 
others ; we lose the secret and hidden life of 
faith, in which consists the whole soul and life 
of piety : we accustom ourselves to be all out- 
ward, always from home, and never within our 
own hearts : we at last appear before the peo- 
ple to perform the public duties of our office 
with dissipated spirits, divided by a variety of 
foreign and tumultuous images which occupy 



302 €oke on the Duties 

them ; and we no more experience the silence 
of the senses, and of the imagination, in respect 
to every thing but the great and solemn work 
on which we are entering, which is so necessary 
to call us back to a holy recollection, and to a 
secret consciousness of our utter unworthiness 
and incapacity of ourselves to stand betwixt 
the living and the dead. Alas ! We are no 
more acquainted with these things ! Thus, in 
labouring always for others, and hardly ever 
for ourselves, the spiritual strength of the soul 
wears out ; we live entirely out of ourselves ; 
we give ourselves up to this life of hurry and 
agitation ; and we at last become incapable of 
any profitable communion with ourselves or 
with God ; we even seek for occasions and pi- 
ous pretexts to fly from retirement ; we cannot 
be in any wise comfortable without the com- 
pany of others, and are immediately tired with 
God alone. 

2. Now, this conduct and disposition of mind, 
which has nothing blameable in it in the judg- 
ment of the world, appears in a very different 
light in the sight of God. Alas ! We quite ex- 
haust our spiritual strength, if we be not con- 
tinually repairing it at the footstool of the 
throne of Grace ; all our cares and solicitudes 
are confined to external things ; we act and 
stir outwardly for God, but we do not commune 
and wrestle privately with him, though true 
love thinks all hours too short in communing 
with its Beloved : We run, but we run alone : 
the Lord, whom we neglect to call to our as- 



Of the Ministry. 303 

sistance, leaves us to our own weakness ; and 
our ordinary humour, temper, vivacity, vanity, 
and love of popularity, rule us, rather than the 
genuine love of our duty, and the love of souls. 
3. There is nothing but faithfulness in the 
exercise of prayer, which can save us from 
these rocks : And, without neglecting in the 
least degree the necessary functions of our 
ministry, we may live in this blessed exercise ; 
we may continually carry with us that spirit of 
piety and recollection, which moderates, regu- 
lates, and sanctifies all our external duties, and 
even makes them so many preparations for re- 
turning with still greater advantage to retire- 
ment, recollection, and communion with God. 
It is for these reasons, that we are repeatedly 
informed in the gospels, that our Lord warned 
his disciples to watch and pray, that they might 
not enter into temptation :* In St. Luke he 
says, " Watch ye, therefore, and pray al- 
ways;"! and in St. Mark, " Take ye heed, watch 
and pray."+ 

3dly. Our necessary intercourse with the world 
makes the constant exercise of prayer an indis- 
pensable duty. 

1. Though the exercise, the spirit, the very 
life of prayer, is absolutely necessary for the 
salvation of every private Christian, we minis- 
ters, more than others, have continually need of 
the help of prayer. The more our duties lead us 

* Matt. xxvi. 41. t Luke xxi. 36. J Mark xiii. 33. 



304 Coke on the Duties 

into the midst of the world, the more do they 
expose us to its vanity and seductions, if they 
be not supported by the spirit of prayer. It is 
not sufficient, that we are not infected or debi- 
litated by the contagious air which we must 
there breathe ; we are required to appear 
among men, clothed with more strength, more 
modesty, more virtue, more holiness, than the 
generality of professors themselves, in the 
midst of whom we must daily be : We ought 
every where to be the sweet savour of Jesus 
Christ. But how difficult must it be for a mi- 
nister, if the habit of prayer has not establish- 
ed in him a certain solidity of virtue, to find 
himself continually in the midst of the abuses 
and dissipations of a vain world, to hear daily 
the apologias which the world makes for it- 
self, and not to be shaken or weakened in the 
spiritual life thereby ! He carries with him a 
heart, void of all those deep sentiments of re- 
ligion, which the habit of prayer alone can en- 
grave upon the soul, and influenced by all 
those inclinations which can render the world 
amiable to him ! There are but too few among 
believers, who do not, sometimes, feel them- 
selves inwardly seduced and shaken by the ob- 
jects which surround them : What then can 
that minister do, who carries nothing with 
him but his weakness and his frailties ? And 
though decency may keep him within certain 
bounds, yet still the world is in his heart : he 
adopts it for his own ; and there is nothing 
now to be observed, even in his public admin- 



Of the Ministry. 305 

istrations, of that firmness, and becoming ma- 
jesty, which announce the minister and ambas- 
sador of God : he is now like salt which has 
lost its savour; and which is not only unable 
to preserve other things from corruption, but 
is itself changed into rottenness and putrefac- 
tion. 

2. A minister, therefore, who lives without 
the habit of prayer, without fidelity to that sa- 
cred and indispensable means of grace, how- 
ever irreprehensible he may otherwise be in 
the eyes of men, is but the shadow of a minis- 
ter : he is but a bare representation of a pas- 
tor of the flock of Christ : he has not the soul, 
the reality of that holy vocation ; and his whole 
ministry has nothing in it but an empty title ; 
which neither binds him to God, with whom he 
has no communication, nor to the church of 
God, to which he is of no manner of use. 

3. When I speak of the necessity of prayer 
for a minister of the gospel, I do not mean that 
this holy exercise should occupy the greatest 
part of the day : he owes himself to his flock, 
and his public duties ought never to suffer by 
the length of his prayers. But I understand 
hereby, that prayer should always precede his 
public duties, and sanctify them ; I mean also, 
that the spirit of prayer should accompany 
him throughout ; that he should in every thing, 
even in the most indifferent of his actions, 
show forth that " inward man, which is re- 
newed" through prayer, " day by day"* — that 

* 2 Cor. iv. 16. 
26 



306 Coke on the Duties 

secret commerce with God, wherein consists 
the essence of religion and piety ; that he ren- 
der his ministry in all places respectable, and 
make his very presence alone an instruction to 
all those who approach him. Behold what I 
understand by the spirit of prayer, so essential 
for a minister of the church of God. 

4. We are, my brethren, divinely appointed 
to combat the vices and unruly passions of the 
world, to destroy the empire of the devil 
among men, and to establish and to extend tha 
kingdom of Jesus Christ. Our ministry 
snatches us from external repose, and clothes 
us with armour : but our arms are only prayer 
and faith working by love. It is from these 
divine arms, under grace, that all our instruc- 
tions, all our labours, and all our efforts, de- 
rive their whole strength and success : With- 
out these, we are but weak rash men, exposed 
without defence in the midst of enemies, with 
whom we ought to have been prepared to fight; 
and soon become the miserable sport of their 
seductions, and of the snares which they con- 
tinually throw in our way : that is to say, We 
soon ourselves become like to them, whom we 
ought to have converted to God and gained for 
Jesus Christ. Like minister, like people ! Would 
to God, my observations were never verified. 
But, alas I from long experience in the minis- 
try of the word, I am indubitably convinced, 
that a minister, without the spirit of prayer 
and habitual recollection, cannot long be sup- 
ported in the divine life ; he becomes dissipa- 



Of the Ministry. 307 

ted : he neglects his duties, especially where 
a cross accompanies them ; or he performs 
them without piety, without any of that deep 
inward sentiment of true religion, and often 
without that respect and holy dignity which 
the world itself expects : till at last he be- 
comes a stumbling-block and an offence to the 
flock, and sometimes even a public reproach 
to the church to which he belongs. 



PART II. 

II. I now proceed to the second head of my 
discourse ; namely, to show the necessity of 
our living in the constant exercise and spirit of 
prayer, as it respects the interests of our flocks. 

1st. The exercise, spirit, and life of prayer, 
are necessary, not only to preserve us from dis- 
gust and discouragement in our duties, and from 
all the dangers with which we are surrounded 
in all our pastoral engagements, in our inter- 
course with the world, and otherwise ; but also 
to assure fruit and success to our ministry. 

1. It is not sufficient, that we run no hazard 
of losing our own souls; (if that were possible, 
in respect to any prayerless person ;) it is still 
more necessary for the church of God, that we 
be useful to others. Now, you well know, 
my brethren, that we may cultivate the ground, 



308 Coke on the Duties 

we may plant and water, but it is God alone 
who gives the increase :* But how can we ex- 
pect it, if we be not faithful in asking it — if 
we do not, by our fervent and continual pray- 
ers, draw down from heaven those blessings 
on our labours, which alone can make them 
fruitful ? Too many labour without fruit, 
without success, because they labour all alone, 
and as if the Success depended only on them- 
selves. They expect it from their own gifts, 
their own cares, and the improvement of their 
own understandings. They call not HIM to 
their assistance, who alone can give the bles- 
sing to all their toils, and render them useful. 
2. I repeat it, my brethren, The little use- 
fulness of many ministers, even when they fill 
up all the public parts of their office, is entire- 
ly owing to the want of living in the spirit of 
prayer. They think they have discharged 
every thing required, when they have fulfil- 
led all the external duties of their ministry ; 
and never infer from the little fruit of their la- 
bours, that there is some secret vice or essen- 
tial neglect which renders them useless. — 
Thus, whilst they engage not God by their 
prayers in the success of their undertakings; 
whilst they begin them without solemnly and 
earnestly addressing themselves to him, that 
he himself would prepare the hearts of those 
they are going to instruct, — they spend their 
days, as at one time did the Apostles, in cast- 

* 1 Cor. iii. 6. 



Of the Ministry. 309 

ing their nets, and taking nothing. They live, 
perhaps, a long and painful life, (if they do not 
entirely plunge into the world,) and at last 
die, with having done little, if any thing at all, 
in the gaining of immortal souls for Jesus 
Christ. 

2dly. The constant exercise and spirit of 
prayer are indispensably necessary to obtain di- 
vine unction. 

1 . What success can that minister promise 
himself, on scripture-grounds, who accustoms 
not himself to live within the vail — who comes 
not constantly to the throne of grace, there to 
fill himself with the love of those truths which 
he is about to declare, and with that spirit of 
unction which alone can render them lovely 
and profitable to the people— to draw from 
thence, that affecting zeal, that grace, that 
strength, which is irresistible ? What suc- 
cess, 1 say, can he possibly promise himself, 
who comes to address his audience as from 
God, who yet never himself speaks to God? 
What dryness in his discourses ! He announ- 
ces truths ; but they come from his mouth, 
and not from his heart ; nor are they those, 
which the Father has revealed to him in se- 
cret. He instructs with spirit ; but it is with 
the spirit of man, and not with the Spirit of 
God. He shows forth the truth ; but he does 
not make it amiable. Those external actions, 
which he gives himself in order to persuade, 
26* 



310 Coke on the Duties 

do not even appear to persuade, to touch, to 
penetrate himself. A spiritual person easily 
perceives, that he speaks a strange language, 
which is not drawn from the bottom of his 
heart. Solomon, from thelanguage of the two 
women, quickly discovered the true mother. 
It is very easy for a truly spiritual person, to 
distinguish between a true and a false shep- 
herd, from their language and discourses — to 
determine, which is the true fether of the 
flock ; which is he who speaks the language of 
paternal love, who bears his children on his 
heart ; who is continually employed before 
God in their behalf, and who is abundantly 
more jealous of their safety and salvation, than 
of his own titles of shepherd, minister, or am- 
bassador of Christ. And I appeal to you, my 
brethren, for the truth of my observation — 
That a holy minister, a man of prayer, with 
only moderate talents, will be more success- 
ful, will leave his congregation more affected 
and influenced by his discourse, than many 
others, whose talents are vastly superior, but 
who have not by prayer drawn down that unc- 
tion, that tender taste of piety, which alone 
knows how to speak to the heart. A minister 
speaks very differently the truths he loves, 
and which he is accustomed to meditate upon, 
and taste all his days at the feet of Jesus Christ! 
The heart has a language, which nothing can 
imitate. In vain does a minister thunder from 
the pulpit, and put his studied actions and 
forced clamours in the place of zeal and piety. 



. 



Of the Ministry. 311 

We may always perceive the man : we may al> 
ways feel that it is a fire which descends not from 
heaven. All that vehement and forced noise 
in the preacher, never announces the descent 
of the Spirit of God upon the hearts of those 
who are assembled to hear. I am not now 
speaking of the genuine cries of sinners and 
mourners in Zion, when struck and humbled 
under the word. I well know, that thousands, 
in these lands, can refer, under grace, their 
conviction or conversion to those times of 
weeping, of melting, of crying, of apparent 
confusion in the sight of the world, but of bless- 
ed order in the sight of God. I speak only 
against the substituting on the one hand of hu- 
man wisdom and human art, or on the other 
of noise and clamour, for the unction of the 
Holy One of Israel. 

2. I cannot, my brethren, help dwelling on 
this impo rtant subject. I must repeat the ques- 
tion— What success can our discourses pro- 
duce, if the habit, and life, and spirit of prayer 
draw not down upon them that grace, that unc- 
tion, which alone makes them useful to those 
who hear ? Without this, the whole is but as 
sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. The 
preacher speaks only to the ears of his audi- 
ence, or at best to their understandings, merely 
because the Spirit of God speaks not by his 
mouth. The spirit, by which he speaks, and 
Which animates his tongue, is not that spirit of 
unction, offeree, of fire, which, as it formerly 
moved on the face of the waters, so now moves 



312 Goke on the Duties 

upon the passions of the heart quiet in its sins> 
troubles it, agitates it, and then separates and 
clears up the chaos. It is in vain for him to 
thunder or borrow his zeal from without — 
throughout the whole, he only, as the Apostle 
speaks, beats the air : his language is as cold, 
as barren, as insipid as his heart ; and the 
ministry of the word is no longer to him but a 
forced duty, which disgusts him, which over- 
whelms him, and from the labour of which he 
excuses himself as much as possible ; or other- 
wise, it is a theatre ©f vanity, where he rather 
seeks for the vile commendations of those 
that hear him, than for their conversion and 
salvation. 

3. How can that minister make the people 
taste the sweetness and power of the truths ot 
God, who has never tasted them himself, or 
does not at least now taste them at the foot- 
stool of the throne ? How can he ever inspire 
the people with a love of prayer, or a convic- 
tion of the necessity of it, who experiences not 
the consolations, nor feels the wants, which 
make the habit of prayer so essential to every 
true believer ? How can he form real Chris- 
tians, that is to say, spiritual men, " whose 
life is hid with Christ in God," — he, whose 
whole life is a life out of himself and out of 
God, and whom the life of prayer does not cause 
to enter into himself, and into an examination 
of his own heart ? No, my brethren ! Take 
from a minister the spirit of prayer, and yon 
take from him his soul, his strength, his life : 



Of the Ministry. 313 

he is no more than a dead carcass, which 
quickly infects those who approach it. 

3dly. Ministers of the gospel " are ambassa- 
dors for Christ, to pray the people to be recon- 
ciled to God;"* and not only so, but to plead 
with God through the great Atonement in their 
behalf. 

1. But how can they who are not known or 
acknowledged of God plead with God for the 
people, when the want of the spirit of prayer 
has shut up all access to his throne ; when 
they have not contracted, by their fidelity in 
the exercise of prayer, that holy familiarity 
with him, which authorizes them to lay before 
him with confidence the wants of their flocks, 
and to bring down into the hearts of the peni- 
tents the blessing of pardoning love, and into 
those of believers the blessings of establishing 
grace, strength against temptation, and the per- 
fect love of God ; in a word, to use a sacred 
violence to the mercy of God in Christ, and to 
speak to him fill the language of tenderness, 
pity, faith and zeal in behalf of their flocks — 
that language, which the constant habit of pray- 
er alone can teach us ? 

2. " Howbeit," says our Lord, speaking of 
bodily diabolical possessions, " this kind goeth 
not out, but by prayer and fasting :"t And 
can we imagine, that less prayer is necessary 

* 2 Cor. v. 20. f Matt. xvii. 21. 



314 Coke on the Duties 

to overturn the kingdom, the power, yea, the 
very nature of the devil in the souls of men ? 
What is then sufficient for this ? I answer, 
faith and prayer, with the promises and bless- 
ings annexed thereto. a Verily, I say unto 
you,'* says Christ to his disciples, " if ye have 
faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this 
which is done to the fig-tree ; but also, if ye 
shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed, 
and be thou cast into the sea, it shall be done. 
And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in 
prayer, believing, ye shall receive. 5; * O that 
we had all of us but faith and piety sufficient 
to give full credit to the word of God ! then 
should we know and be astonished at the truth 
of those words of our Saviour, "Verily, veri- 
ly, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, 
the works that I do, shall he do also, and great- 
er works than these shall he do, because I go 
unto my Father : and whatsoever ye shall ask 
in my name, that will I do, that the Father 
may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask 
any thing in my name, I will do it."t Accord- 
ingly, the great Apostle, that close copier of 
the life of Christ, writes to the Colossians, — 
" We — do not cease to pray for you, and to de- 
sire that you might be filled with the know- 
ledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual 
understanding,"! &c. and to the Thessaloni- 
ans, " What thanks can we render to God 
again for you, &c. night and day praying ex- 

* IVSatt. xxL 2 1, 22. t John xiv. 12, 14. $ Col. i. 9, fye . 



Of the Ministry. 315 

teedingly that we might see your face, and 
might perfect that which is lacking in y&ur 
faith"* And we may be assured, that the 
Apostle would never have prayed so continu- 
ally and exceedingly for his flocks, if he had not 
been certain that his prayers would be heard 
for many of them in a glorious manner. 

Therefore, 4thly. — If prayer were not so in- 
dispensable for ourselves in particular as it is, 
we owe it to our people. 

1. Are we not charged, by onr character of 
pastor and minister, to pray for them without 
ceasing ? Is it not a duty incumbent on us to 
lay before God the wants of our flocks, and to 
solicit for them the riches of his mercy ? 
Should we not groan before him by reason of 
the vices with which too many of our hearers, 
among whom we labour, are infected ; and 
which all our cares and all our zeal are not 
able to correct ? Are we not bound to ask at 
the throne, strength for the weak, compunc- 
tion for heard-hearted sinners, and perseve- 
rance for the righteous ? The more numerous 
are the wants of our people, the more earnest 
and frequent should be our prayers. We 
should never appear before God, but like the 
High-Priest of the law, bearing before the 
Most High the names of the tribes written on 
our hearts ; that is to say, the names of the 

* 1 Thess. iii. 0, 10, 



316 Coke on the Duties 

people intrusted to our care : this should al- 
ways be a principal subject of our prayers. — 
Such is the order of the dispensation of grace. 
Though every genuine Christian is a king and 
priest to God and the Father, ministers espe- 
cially are the public conduit-pipes, through 
which the divine grace and blessings run to the 
people : they form the grand public resource, 
by the instrumentality of which the goodness 
of God in Christ corrects the disorders which 
reign among men. 

2. You see then, my brethren, on the whole, 
that prayer is the most intimate and insepara- 
ble duty of a gospel-minister : it is, if I may 
so speak, the soul of his office : it is, under the 
grace of God, his only safety. This alone 
sweetens all the distastes and discouragements 
he meets with : this alone guards him from all 
the dangers, with which he is surrounded from 
his intercourse with the world, or from the 
spirit of professors themselves: this alone, un- 
der grace,assuress succes to his ministry; alone 
imparts the divine unction to his discourses ; 
alone enables him to give a taste of the divine 
truths to the people, having first tasted them 
himself in communion with his God ; alone 
qualifies him to plead successfully with God in 
behalf of his flock ; and therefore is an abso- 
lutely indispensable debt, which he owes to 
his people. 

I shall now conclude the whole with a few 
general deductions from what has been advan- 
ced. 



Of the Ministry. 317 

1. A minister, who lives not in the spirit 
and exercise of prayer, who prays only in a 
formal manner at set seasons, to satisfy a hard- 
ened conscience, is no pastor ; he is a stran- 
ger, who is no wise interested hy the wants of 
his flock : the people who are intrusted to his 
care, are not his children ; they are poor or- 
phans without a father ; his heart, his bowels, 
say nothing in their behalf ; he loves the title 
which puts them under his direction, but he 
loves not that which is a grand means of their 
conversion and salvation : he loves not the 
office of a shepherd: he loves not the flock: 
for if he loved it, could he omit aiy essential 
duty in behalf of the faithful, the mourners, or 
the sinners, intrusted to his care, to the end 
that none of those whom the Father had given 
him might perish ? What say you, my breth- 
ren ? A pastor, who lives not in the exercise 
of prayer for his people, not only loves them 
not, but deprives them of that which they have 
a right to exact from him : in depriving them 
of his prayers, he deprives them of a resource,' 
to which God is always pleased to adjoin many 
gryces, many blessings : he fills the place of a 
holy shepherd, whose prayers - would have 
Jrawn down a thousand blessings on the poor 
lock, and is absolutely guilty, in a great de- 
ree, of all the crimes which the prayers of 
hat holy man would have prevented. Exa- 
nine, therefore, if you be faithful in repre- 
enting to God all the wants of your people; if 
ou be solicitous, importunate, to draw down 
27 



318 Coke on the Duties 

upon them the gracious regard of a good God. 
O brethren, the fervent prayers of a faithful 
pastor are rarely useless. That God, who has 
charged us to pray for our people, has also 
promised to hear us. 

But, 2. May I venture, without offence, to 
urge the following objection (conscious how 
inapplicable it is to most, if not all of you, my 
brethren)— u How can a travelling preacher 
have much leisure for prayer, in the midst of 
the vast multiplicity of business which a cir- 
cuit requires ?" Alas ! In the midst of all our la- 
bours and cares, how many vacant, unemployed 
moments have we? Can a pastor, an ambassador 
of Christ to mankind, God's minister, charged 
with the important office of presenting the wish- 
es and prayers of the congregation before the 
throne, not have time to present his own I — a 
dispenser of the doctrines and graces of the 
gospel, not hold constant intercourse with Him 
who has intrusted to him this glorious minis- 
try, and in the name of whom he speaks and 
acts ! — never render an account to God of the 
gifts and celestial riches with which he has 
been intrusted ! The royal Psalmist says of 
himself, " I give myself unto prayer."* And 
again, M evening and morning, and at noon, 
will i pray, and cry aloud : and he shall hear 
my voice:"! And once more, a Seven times 
a day do I praise thee."J Now, can any of us 
imagine, that the concerns of a mighty empire, 

* Psa. cix. 4. t Psa. Iv. 17. J Psa. cxix. 164. 



Of the Ministry. 319 

which lay on the mind of the royal Psalmist, 
were less than the care of a circuit ? Again, 
the Scripture informs us, that Daniel, when 
prime minister of the greatest kingdom in the 
world, " kneeled upon his knees three times a 
day, and prayed and gave thanks before God."* 
O that the Lord would now pour out upon us 
all, more abundantly than ever, the spirit of 
grace and supplication ! 

But, 3. It is not, my brethren, the devotion 
of a part of your lives in the exercise of pray- 
er, which we so much press upon you, as the 
privilege and consolation of these souls, retired 
into themselves, who are occupied in medita- 
ting on the wonders of the law and grace of 
God ; and who taste, far from the world and 
in the secret places of his tabernacle, what 
happiness they enjoy who love nothing in com- 
parison to him, and who hold communion in- 
cessantly with him. That which is essential 
to us, is the spirit of prayer, which we ought 
to carry with us continually and into all our 
duties : that which is particularly requisite for 
us, is, before we enter on our public offices, 
always to go to the feet of Jesus Christ, there 
to fill ourselves with that spirit, which enables 
us to perform our duties holily for ourselves, 
and usefully for others : it is, when we have 
finished our public duties, to go for some pre- 
cious moments to refresh ourselves before God, 
and there to recover fresh strength to begin 
them again with new zeal : it is, to accustom 

* Dan. vi. 10, 



**r 



32® Qoke on the Duties 

ourselves to this secret and almost perpetual 
intercourse with God ; to find him every 
where ; to find ourselves always with him ; 
and in every place, and every thing, to find 
occasion to raise ourselves up to him. Be- 
hold in what sense a minister of the gospel 
should be a man of prayer. O my brethren, 
if this spirit of prayer animate not all our du- 
ties, we shall have much reason to complain, 
while we are performing all that is painful in 
them, and omitting the only thing which can 
soften them, support us under them, and give 
them, under God, the wished-for success. 

4. What a misfortune then is it, for a peo- 
ple to have over them a prayerless pastor; I 
mean one, who does not live in the life and spi- 
rit and exercise of prayer; one, who is govern- 
ed by a spirit of dissipation, destitute of the 
spirit of prayer and recollection; who is kept 
only by the fear of man from falling into scan- 
dalous disorders ! What assistance can this un- 
fortunate people promise themselves from such 
a minister ! Can he administer to them those 
words of piety, unction, and consolation, which 
can only be received from Him, u in whom all 
the fulness of the Godhead dwells for the 
Gharch which is his body?" Can he successful- 
ly oppose the vices and public disorders which 
surround him ? O ! to be properly affected by 
these, he must be filled by that zeal which is 
the flame of love; he must feel the value of 
the souls among which he labours: but to have 
a heart susceptible of this zeal and this sympa- 



Of the Miftistry. 321 

thy, he must be often softened and melted 
down at the foot of the cross, in meditating on 
the price which these souls have cost our adora- 
ble Redeemer. I therefore once more say, in 
what a miserable state is that unfortunate peo- 
ple, who are cursed with a prayerless minis- 
ter ! He should have been like a salubrious 
cloud, placed between the heavens and the 
precious field confided to his care. He should 
by the habitual exercise of prayer have re- 
ceived from on high those holy influences, with 
which he should incessantly have watered, en- 
riched, and rendered fruitful, that land which 
he is charged to cultivate. But having no 
communication with heaven by prayer, he is 
only one of those " clouds without water, 
carried about of wind."* No heavenly dew 
flows from his bosom; he imparts nothing, be- 
cause he receives nothing: or if he do impart 
any thing, it is only some dreadful rumour, a 
stench and a public noise of his scandal and 
fall ! % 

6. Let us, my brethren, lay to heart these 
sacred truths. Let us never lose sight of them 
through the course of our lives. The spirit of 
prayer is the essential spirit of Christianity: But 

IT IS THE SOUL, THE SUBSTANCE, THE LIFE OF A 

gospel-ministry. Every thing in our exte- 
rior duties tends to unite us to God — to raise 
us up to him: and shall our spirit and our heart 
be unmoved, in the midst of so many 

* Jude 12. 



** 



322 Coke on the Duties 

sacred employments, which call us back ta 
him: in the midst of so many graces and lov- 
ing-kindnesses, as we are continually endea- 
vouring to dispense in the ministry of the 
word, and which flow from him alone '• in the 
midst of so many errors, disorders, and vices, 
which we daily see increasing among the peo- 
ple who surround us, and which call so loud 
upon us to implore his pity, and to have re- 
course to him who alone can correct them ? 
All these things considered, is it possible for 
any one of us to regard a secret and constant 
intercourse with God as a pain and a cross: 
and, in respect to present experience, be 
obliged to consider him as the people did 
formerly in the midst of Athens, an unknown- 
God! 

fl. In short, a real minister of the gospel 
is a man of prayer. Player is his grand em- 
ployment, his safety, his first and perpetual 
duty: and, I may add, is w , under grace, the 
grand source of his consolation. Our instruc- 
tions will be always barren, if they be not wa- 
tered with our tears and prayers. Even if our 
gifts be small, but we support them by our 
prayers, our defects will be in a great measure 
supplied, and divine unction become the bless- 
ed substitute. 

7. Therefore, I once more for all repeat 
it again, a minister who prays not, who is 
not in love with prayer, is not a minister of the 
church of God: he is a dry tree, which occu- 
pies in vain a place in Christ's garden: he is 



< 



Of the Ministry, 



9 



323 



an enemy, and not a father, of the people: he 
is a stranger, who has taken the place of the 
shepherd, and to whom the salvation of the 
flock is an indifferent thing. Be then, my bre- 
thren, faithful in -prayer, and your ministry 
will be more and more useful; your labours 
will be more and more delightful to you; and 
the evils of the church of Christ, and of the 
world in general, will daily diminish. 

" O my God, give to all the ministers of thy 
gospel a tender and paternal heart towards 
their people; then will they always know how 
to address thee in their behalf; then will their 
zealous spirits be one continual praver, speak- 
ing to thee for the souls which lie so near to 
their hearts ! But more particularly, bless the 
preachers of our connexion, throughout Eu- 
rope and America, with the abundance of thy 
grace, and of this spirit of prayer. Glory be 
^iven to thee, thou hast already bestowed 
much of it upon them : O ! preserve it, in- 
crease it, 2Fjflame ir, till tbeirvery life be one 
constant sacrifice to the^ tflK>y being daily 
stamped with brighter and bwjrter characters 
of thyself, they continually bring down, like 
thy servant Moses, a bright shining from the 
Mount," ' 

FINIS, 




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